


halfway home

by lovecity (xies), sanhascroissant



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, Attempt at Humor, Enemies to Lovers, Found Family, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, M/M, Rebel Pilot Donghyuck, Sharing a Bed, Smuggler Jaemin, Space Opera, Unresolved Sexual Tension, idiots to lovers, lots and lots of banter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:41:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 25,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26039632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xies/pseuds/lovecity, https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanhascroissant/pseuds/sanhascroissant
Summary: Na Jaemin is the last person Donghyuck would ever usually trust — an intergalactic smuggler with arrest warrants in several quadrants.But when Donghyuck’s stranded about a thousand lightyears into enemy territory, he has no choice but to ask Jaemin for help. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and now, Jaemin may be Donghyuck’s only hope of getting back home.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Na Jaemin
Comments: 30
Kudos: 162
Collections: nahyuck fic fest!





	halfway home

**Author's Note:**

> hello! welcome to this monster child :"D first of all, thank you so much to the prompter and their amazing brain! hope it lives up to your expectations! also, thank you to k, best mod ever, and a big thank you to candice, for beta'ing this.
> 
> there's a [slide show](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1e50xnRLEqgaW3xQLQ8A7DEiaulSRP9g0SMfKlX6G504/edit?usp=sharing), for visual reference, in case you're interested. there's also a [playlist](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpoqw7cZA44F2eEm06Rd6Lycx-TF_tQXG), that's mostly background sounds and music ^^
> 
> this is set in the star wars universe, and there's a few canon references, but there's also a lot of creative liberties so don't take it too seriously please. lastly, as a warning, there's a brief mention of death and blood almost at the end, in case you wanna skip it. anyway, that's all! ah this is really a precious project. we hope it is as fun to read as it was to write it <3
> 
> enjoy!
> 
> -cony and robin  
> find us on twt @starlight_jaem and @R0BINISMS!
> 
> edit: this work was frontdated on 02/11!

Donghyuck didn’t think his mission would go like this. It wasn’t a particularly high risk one—especially when comparing it to others—but things had _not_ gone his way at all, even though he had come prepared. He’d had a plan in the form of a shiny, new getaway ship. A back up plan that ended up completely failing, the ship dead in the water. Now he’s desperate and stuck on a planet overrun by the Empire with no backup.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

That brings him to the hangar he’s currently in, just beside the city’s large, outdoor market. He’d moved pretty fast, all things considered, avoiding the crowded streets and choosing the less populated routes instead. Now, he only needs to find the smugger’s ship—white, semi round, two frontal rectangular pieces.

He looks around and _bingo_.

He pulls his hood down over his face as much as he can, and hurries towards the ship.

“Hey!” Donghyuck says, trying to catch the attention of a guy a few meters in front of him.

The guy, who's currently loading boxes, turns to look at Donghyuck from inside the back of the ship. He’s a little taller than Donghyuck, with bright blue hair. He’s dressed in tight navy pants and a loose, flowing black silk shirt under a long leather coat. Donghyuck eyes the thigh holster he’s wearing, where he spots what’s definitely the outline of a blaster.

Donghyuck swallows.

“You’re Jaemin, right?” Donghyuck asks, hopeful. The guy eyes him. The thing that surprises him the most is that he looks about the same age as Donghyuck. When he’d overheard some locals talking about an experienced smuggler that had no qualms transporting people across the galaxy for money, Donghyuck hadn’t expected it to be someone that looked like this.

Then again, what should a smuggler look like, anyway?

The guy nods, and relief washes over him.

“Do you have space for one more inside?” Donghyuck asks. He tries to sound casual, but his voice betrays him, the last words sounding rushed and anguished.

The guy—Jaemin—sighs, turning around and walking deeper inside his ship. Donghyuck is about to go after him, panicking, when the guy returns.

He strolls down the boarding platform slowly. Very, _very_ slowly. Donghyuck kind of wants to scream at him. He would, if this wasn’t his last shot at survival.

The guy walks up to Donghyuck and scans him from head to toe, visibly unimpressed. “For the right price, yeah, maybe I have space,” he says, raising an eyebrow.

“I can pay,” Donghyuck replies immediately. He can’t waste any more time. He needs to make this work, and quickly.

That seems to pique the guy’s interest. He crosses his arms over his chest, and tilts his head. “How much?”

See, this is where things get tricky. Donghyuck isn’t great at dealing with people in the best of circumstances, and right now he’s in a bit of a tight spot. What does he have that he can offer a smuggler? The guy makes a move like he wants to get back on the ship and leave without him, and Donghyuck panics again.

“A ship!” He blurts out. The guy stops in his tracks. “A new one.”

“Okay, and where is this ship that you’re offering me?” the guy asks, skeptical.

Really, Donghyuck should have thought this through better. He needs to think fast. He swallows. "At the place I need you to get me to, of course. The minute we arrive, it's yours," he says, trying to sound convincing.

The guy straight up laughs at him. “Yeah, how about no,” he says, amusement clear in his voice.

“C’mon! I don’t have money on me right now,” Donghyuck tries. He really needs to get on board that ship. He needs to leave this planet _now_. “I’ll pay you when we get there! I need to get back! _Please_!”

Jaemin stops for a second, eyeing him, before deciding to keep on walking. “That’s too bad, but I’m being serious. Pay me, and then we can talk.”

Donghyuck is _desperate_. If he doesn’t get out of here quickly and the Empire’s forces catch him, he’s done. He’s done _for good._ They’ll try to get information out of him and then they’ll kill him, or even worse. He knows too much. He can’t die. Not yet.

He’s desperate, so he plays the only card he has left. He takes off his hood, quickly, and stands in front of Jaemin and the boxes, arms open so he’s blocking the way.

“The future of the galaxy depends on this! Don’t you care?” Donghyuck exclaims. Maybe if the motive is strong enough, this guy will understand. He _needs_ him to understand.

Jaemin looks at him with wide eyes, and then he sighs. “What’s your name?”

Donghyuck thinks fast. “Haechan,” he mutters.

“Well, _Haechan_.” The guys sighs, going around Donghyuck to pick one of the boxes. “I don’t really care about your sob story. _Believe_ me, I’ve heard it all before,” he says. “If you want this conversation to continue, then you have to pay me. Otherwise, we’re done here.”

“But—!” Donghyuck opens his mouth, ready to argue some more, when yells pierce the air. Jaemin curses, dropping the box just inside the ship. For a moment, Donghyuck can’t tell what’s happened. But then, just on the other side of the hangar, he catches a glimpse of blaster fire. In a matter of seconds, the hangar has descended into chaos, people screaming and running around trying to hide.

It’s the Stormtroopers.

Donghyuck’s heart stops.

“Quick!” Jaemin says, motioning to the one box left. “Take that and go inside!” He turns on his heel, vanishing into the depths of the ship.

Donghyuck freezes for a split second, and then nods, picking up the last box and rushing after Jaemin to get inside the ship, almost tripping in the process. He hears the Stormtroopers getting closer to them, and now it’s only a matter of seconds before they catch up.

“Seriously!” Jaemin yells as he speedwalks to the other side of the ship where the cabin is. Donghyuck follows him closely. “You're in the middle of a smuggler's den and you're talking about how the future of the galaxy _depends on you?_ Don't they teach you how to cover your tracks back at your little base camp or whatever? You're practically begging to get turned in for prize money!"

Donghyuck feels the blood rushing to his face. "Shut up! My ship, my only way out of here, malfunctioned, and I was being followed! I didn't have the time to stop and think about covering my tracks!"

Jaemin starts the ship quickly, checking the back through a small monitor on the control panel. The Stormtroopers are everywhere now, surrounding the ship, and blaster fire shakes the cabin.

Jaemin sneers, taking the helm. “Well, how did that work out for you in the end?”

Donghyuck really, really hates this guy. Who does he think he is, questioning his abilities as a soldier? A shameless, dirty smuggler, that’s who. “Can you please just _fucking start—”_

The ship suddenly moves, engine flaring to life. Jaemin maneuvers it out of the hangar, and it’s nothing like Donghyuck has experienced before. Sure, they’ve got their batch of old ships back at Headquarters, but this ship is nothing like them. The speed at which the ship rises from the ground and speeds though the hangar has Donghyuck feeling nauseous in a way that he hasn't since he was learning to fly, years ago.

“What the—”

“We have company.” Jaemin looks grim, the monitor beeping. Looking at the display in horror, Donghyuck can see that at least three destroyers are chasing after them. Suddenly, they split up, one remaining in the center, two going to the sides, disappearing from view.

As if on cue, the ships start attacking with blaster bolts.

“Shit,” Jaemin mutters, and the ship rocks as they’re hit on the left side. “We need to lose them before leaving Onderon, or they’ll track us across the galaxy no matter where we go.”

“Then lose them!” Donghyuck exclaims, frustrated, as he looks out the above window to try and see the other ships that the monitor can’t catch. Even though he’s a pilot, he doesn’t know this ship. Even the control panel seems unfamiliar. He can’t do anything right now, except trust this guy —Jaemin— to get them out of here.

“Easier said than done,” Jaemin complains, looking ahead of them. They’re almost out of the city by now, and soon, there’s only going to be forest and mountains.

“Can I help you with anything?” Donghyuck asks, his heart in his throat. He knows he’d be pretty useless, but he needs to ask, anyway. He doesn’t know how to sit and do nothing.

“Actually, yes,” Jaemin says, voice serious and commanding. They’re out of the city now, flying over a forest, long trees almost grazing the bottom of the ship. “Put on your seatbelt. Now!”

Donghyuck does. He watches as Jaemin pushes the handle to his left all the way down, the ship somehow going even faster. There’s a mountain just a few meters in front of them, and Jaemin is flying directly into it. There’s no way he can stop.

“What the hell are you doing?” Donghyuck exclaims, panic rising up his chest.

Jaemin doesn’t listen. He goes straight for the mountain, and Donghyuck prepares himself for the crash, flinching backwards and covering his face with his arms for protection.

But nothing happens.

They slip _inside_ the mountain, through a hole barely large enough for Jaemin’s ship. The passage through the mountain is uneven, rocks hitting every part of the ship, which shudders at every little scratch.

“You’re crazy!” Donghyuck says, but to be fair, the ships aren’t following them anymore. “What _was_ that?”

“Don’t complain, it worked!” Jaemin says, smiling, as Donghyuck clutches his shirt just above his heart. “It’s a hidden entrance. Smuggler tricks, you know?”

Donghyuck snorts. “You’re aware that they’re still going to be waiting on the other side, right?”

“They won’t, because there is no other side,” Jaemin explains calmly as the ship slows down. “There’s an underwater passage just a few meters ahead.”

They make it out just fine. True to Jaemin’s word, there’s no ships waiting for them ahead of them. Instead, the passage opens up into a massive cavern. Below them, an underground lake shimmers, water still and unmoving. Jaemin turns the ship downwards, and they crash through the surface of the water.

After the white of the bubbles clear away from the ship’s front window, there’s only darkness. The ship's lights are the only thing leading them through the pitch black. The ship remains underwater for a few minutes, slowly making its way through the lake, and then, before Donghyuck knows it, they’re back up in the sky.

Donghyuck is able to breathe again.

He observes Jaemin, turning his head to him. Now that they’re out of danger, he can see how distressed he looks, clearly affected by all that they went through. His forehead is wet, sweat shining on his temples, and his shoulders are tense.

“Thank you.” Jaemin had saved him, after all. He smiles smugly. “See, I could tell that you would do the right thing in the end.”

Jaemin looks at him out of the corner of his eye, and then, he chuckles.

“That's a good one!” Jaemin exclaims, a hand coming up to wipe the sweat off his face. He starts the jump to lightspeed, and the stars curve around them, straightening out into lines as they get out of Onderon's orbit in fast motion. “I only saved your ass because you’re cute.”

Donghyuck raises an eyebrow at that. “Because I’m cute?”

“Don’t let it go to your head,” Jaemin replies easily, unfastening his seat belt. The ship is stable, for now. “You’re still paying me,” he says next.

Donghyuck nods at that. It’s only fair. “Just take me to where I tell you, and you’ll have your ship,” he says. “I have to get back to my base.”

“And you will,” Jaemin replies, then frowns. “On time,” he mutters under his breath.

“Wait, what?” Donghyuck exclaims. “On time?”

“Well,” Jaemin says, as he stands up from his seat, and starts walking out of the cabin. “Is your mysterious mission time sensitive? Did you get what you came to Onderon for?”

“I did,” Donghyuck confirms, following him out of the cabin. “But I have to deliver it now! There’s no point if I don’t get this back to the base!”

“You will!” Jaemin replies, turning around to face him. They are in the main expanse of the ship now, yellow lights above them. “We’re just going to make a quick detour to Taris, and then we’ll be on our way to wherever your base is.”

“What? No!” Donghyuck exclaims, taking a step closer to Jaemin, almost stomping into the metallic floor. “Absolutely not!”

“In case you didn’t notice, you’re the one crashing on _my_ ship!” Jaemin makes a gesture, throwing his arms in the air. “I have to deliver these boxes on time or else I’ll be the one that’s being chased down next,” he says, lowering his voice. “The people I work with do not like to be left hanging. Plus, I’ve got a reputation to maintain. I keep my word. If I say we’ll get there, we will, okay?”

Donghyuck sighs very loudly. “Fine!” he says, pushing his lips together. “A quick stop, and then we’ll be on our way?”

“Yes,” Jaemin replies. “It’ll take us a few extra days to get there, though.” At that, Donghyuck is ready to go for his neck again. “The left wing took a small hit, and I think it might have damaged the hyperdrive. I want to take precautions!” Jaemin’s voice is stern, stopping Donghyuck’s complaints in their tracks. “We don’t want to get stranded in the middle of the galaxy. Right _?_ ” At least he has the decency to look slightly apologetic underneath the frown.

“Right,” Donghyuck says through gritted teeth.

“Great!” Jaemin chirps, replacing the frown with an almost unnaturally wide smile. “Glad we agree!”

Donghyuck pinches his nose. How did he get himself into this situation, for god’s sake? Right, he had the brilliant idea of making a deal with a _smuggler_. There’s no one else at fault but him. He’s just going to have to put up with Jaemin for a day or two.

Yeah, he can do that.

He just has to hold on for a little bit longer.

* * *

Unfortunately, when Jaemin said “a few extra days”, he apparently actually meant more like an entire week. The hyperdrive was damaged in the escape from Onderon, giving out after the initial jump to lightspeed. Jaemin had pulled up some of the paneling on the ground in the lounge to check it out, but he’d had no luck. Apparently they’d need a real mechanic to take a look at it.

It’s only seven days, but it feels like longer. Jaemin is a stranger, and they’re stranded together in deep space, so there isn’t exactly a host of things to do. Donghyuck thinks about Renjun, Jeno, and Mark, all back on the base, and misses their company terribly.

He spends a lot of time sitting on the bed Jaemin offered to him, staring out the window as the stars slide by. He doesn’t see much of Jaemin—he’s always busy piloting, or down in the cargo hold, presumably sorting through the illegal objects that he’s smuggling. Donghyuck’s better off not knowing all the details.

But it’s impossible to avoid him entirely. After a few days, Donghyuck realizes that they’ve been eating meals together, and he’s gotten used to the clattering sounds that echo up from the cargo hold when Jaemin’s down there. He stops having trouble falling asleep, the humming of the ship becoming more familiar than strange and uncomfortable. He and Jaemin even start to have the occasional conversation.

“What’s the name of the ship, anyway?” Donghyuck asks one afternoon as they eat lunch. Jaemin grins.

“ _The Milenaria,”_ he says in between bites of his nutrition bar. “But I call her Mili.”

“I’ve always thought that it’s weird that people name ships.” Donghyuck looks over to Jaemin. “What’s the point?”

Jaemin scoffs. “Of course you wouldn’t understand.” He rolls his eyes. “You’re a rebel.”

“Wait, how did you know that?” Donghyuck blurts, immediately on the defensive. He thinks back to all their previous conversations, but no, he’s never let that slip. “I never said I was!” Jaemin just sighs.

“What, did you forget that little stunt you pulled back on Onderon? Yelling about _the fate of the galaxy?"_ Jaemin rolls his eyes. "Please, you rebels are all the same,” he mutters. “At this point I could probably spot any one of you from a mile away. Don’t take it personally, I have a lot of experience. Anyway, my point is, you guys crash ships every other day. Why name something that you consider dispensable?” He shrugs. “For smugglers, though, our ship is our home.” Jaemin shakes his head, taking another bite of the nutrition bar. He chews, swallows, and then adds, “I don’t expect you to understand, but Mili’s kind of like my best friend. I’d be devastated if she ever crashed.”

“What, this hunk of space junk?” Donghyuck is still a little bit overwhelmed by how quickly Jaemin pegged him as a member of the Resistance, but he tries his best to shoot for levity, since he really has no choice but to trust Jaemin in this situation. It seems to work, because Jaemin frowns, but there’s a hint of a smile on his lips.

“Hey! She’s sensitive!”

Donghyuck snickers, and Jaemin grins in earnest. Then Donghyuck stops short. “I offered you a new ship,” Donghyuck points out. “Why would you take me up on that if you’re so attached to Mili?”

Jaemin rolls his eyes. “I took you up on the offer because I knew that once I refused a ship as payment, you rebels would compensate me fairly in credits. Rebels are dead annoying,” Jaemin says, snorting, “But you’re too noble to scam me. You’ll hold up your end of the bargain.”

“I…” Donghyuck blinks, gathering himself. “I suppose you’re right,” he says. “I will. But how did you know I would?”

“Well acquainted with the Resistance, remember?” Jaemin says, gesturing towards himself. He grimaces, looking away. “Unfortunately,” he adds, muttering to himself.

“Hey!” Donghyuck frowns. “What’s your problem with the Resistance?”

Jaemin sighs. “None of your business,” he says succinctly. “Good talk!” Jaemin stands, pushing himself up from the table. Before Donghyuck can get another word in, he’s halfway out the door, long coat swishing behind him.

Jaemin’s an enigma. Besides his weird dislike of the Resistance, Donghyuck’s seen the way he flies—he could easily get a legal, well-paying job, but he chooses to be a smuggler. Why waste his talent like this?

Jaemin claims to be self-serving and uncaring, but he let Donghyuck join him on his ship when the Stormtroopers came for him despite the fact that doing so would put himself in more danger. No matter how much Jaemin deflected, there’s no way he could have thought it all through in the moment. Donghyuck is acquainted with sudden, gut decisions—he makes them all the time—and Jaemin’s decision to let him onto his ship despite the immediate danger? That was a gut decision. It was Jaemin’s first instinct. So why does he try to pretend to be selfish and money grubbing?

He’s completely different from Sicheng, who was a smuggler before becoming a rebel. It’s almost _weird_ to think about how different they are.

Donghyuck gets Sicheng. But he doesn’t really get Jaemin.

* * *

As the days pass, Jaemin and Donghyuck talk more and more. One night after dinner, Jaemin grabs a deck of playing cards and brings them to the table, determined to teach Donghyuck a smuggler’s card game that he calls Smuggler’s Run.

“It’s simple,” Jaemin says, dealing them seven cards each. “The goal is to have a more successful run than me. Diamonds are cargo, spades are passengers, hearts are crew members. But you don’t want any clubs in your hand, because they actually detract from your score since they represent Stormtroopers, who will confiscate your cargo or kill your passengers and crew. Are you following?”

“Uh, yeah, I think so.” Donghyuck squints down at his hand, trying to memorize which card represents what in the game.

“Okay, good!” Jaemin grins. “Now, on each turn, you start by drawing a card. It’s up to you whether you put it down, add it to your hand, or pass it to me. You can pass me odd numbered cards, but even and face cards you have to either place, add to your hand, or discard.”

“Wait,” Donghyuck tries to interject, but Jaemin just ignores him and continues explaining.

“Face cards, by the way, have their own meanings outside their suit. Queens are the best cards in the game, no matter their suit. They’re captains. Jacks are second best; they’re pilots, or the Queen’s second in command. If you can get all the Queens and all the Jacks, you win the game by default, but that’s super, super rare. You can place Queens down even if you don’t have a pair, but in order to place a Jack, you must already have a Queen placed in your Run.”

“Hold on,” Donghyuck insists. “You’ve completely lost me. How do you place cards down?”

“Oh!” Jaemin grins. “You can place any card down once per turn, but you can only place multiple at once if they’re either the same number in different suits, or the same suit, but in a row. So I could place a six, seven, and eight of diamonds, but not a six and an eight. Or I could place eights of diamonds, hearts, and spades. But not an eight of diamonds, nine of hearts, and ten of spades. It’s simple!”

Donghyuck thinks it’s about the furthest thing from simple he’s ever heard, but arguing with Jaemin seems pointless, so he just shuts his mouth and listens as Jaemin lists off what seem to be an endless number of nonsensical rules.

When Jaemin says, “The king is a Sith Lord, so when played it will cut your score in half, but when played with an Ace, it becomes a Jedi Master instead and will turn on the opponent of your choice, cutting _their_ score in half instead,” Donghyuck has finally had enough.

“You have to be making this shit up,” he mutters. “No card game is this complicated.”

Jaemin raises an eyebrow. “Oh really? You sure you’re not just bad at remembering the rules?”

Donghyuck narrows his eyes. Oh, it’s _on._ “No way,” he says, gritting his teeth. “I’ll beat you at this stupid card game if it’s the last thing I do. Is that all the rules?” Jaemin nods. Donghyuck’s lips curl back into a determined smile. “Okay then. Let’s play.”

Jaemin beats him handily, the game over in under ten minutes. Donghyuck growls, irritated, as Jaemin cackles in his seat, smiling a shit-eating grin.

“You cheated,” Donghyuck insists. Jaemin shakes his head.

“Nope. You just suck, like all beginning players.”

“No, you _definitely_ cheated,” Donghyuck insists. “Smugglers are cheaters, everyone knows that. I want a rematch.”

Jaemin has stopped laughing, a small furrow between his brows, but just as Donghyuck notices it, it’s gone, and he’s laughing again. “Yeah, okay, Haechan,” Jaemin says, voice dripping with amusement as he reshuffles the deck and starts to deal again. “Whatever you say.”

Donghyuck loses seven more times that night.

* * *

Before he knows it, they’re arriving at Taris. Jaemin tells him that his business is with a Smuggler’s Ring that operates out of Taharis, Taris’ subterraneum city.

“Ten’s a good guy,” Jaemin says about the leader of the ring. “Helps people get their start in the business. But it’s not him we’re meeting. It’s Yangyang. Maybe Chenle and Jisung, if we have some extra time after that.”

“You do realize I have no idea who these people are,” Donghyuck tells him, deadpan. Jaemin rolls his eyes from where he’s strapped into the cockpit.

“Yes, I know. Put your seatbelt on. We’re entering the atmosphere... Right about now _.”_

The ship shakes as it pushes through the atmosphere, the windows glowing red with heat from the ozone layer. Donghyuck bounces up and down in his seat, but in terms of entries, it’s pretty smooth. Donghyuck’s not surprised—if he’s learned one thing about Jaemin, it’s that he’s a fantastic pilot.

“Yangyang’s an old buddy of mine,” Jaemin says conversationally, like he didn’t just pull off one of the riskiest parts of space travel with ease. “We met back when I was a member of Ten’s ring. I left, he stayed, but we’re still cool. They contract me a lot.” He turns back to Donghyuck, winking. “It’s the spotless reputation.”

Donghyuck scoffs, rolling his eyes. Jaemin’s too full of himself. He’s still just a smuggler, for goodness sake.

“Anyway,” Jaemin continues, turning back to the front. “I’m hoping he’ll have his crew with him. Yangyang’s the best captain and pilot there is besides yours truly, but he’s not a great mechanic. He leaves that stuff to his crew, specifically Xiaojun. Sometimes Hendery. But I’m hoping Xiaojun will be available,” Jaemin says. He smiles, patting the center console. “Only the best for my Mili.”

The ship descends through the lower cloud layer, and Donghyuck gets his first good look at Taris. It’s rocky, plants growing wild through the cracks, but there’s no life to be seen. The glass fogs up just the slightest bit as they descend, so Donghyuck figures that it’s probably pretty chilly out there.

Jaemin navigates over the rocky wasteland towards a hilly incline. The ship soars up above the hill and hovers, and when Donghyuck looks down, he gasps.

The hill isn’t a hill at all, it’s an entrance to Taharis, Taris’ only major city, all hidden under the crust of the planet’s surface. All Donghyuck knows about it from Sicheng is that it’s the den of a whole host of galactic outlaws; smugglers included. From the crevice, lights twinkle and steam billows as Jaemin lowers them down into the landing dock.

“Okay, listen up,” Jaemin says as they land. “That cloak? You’re going to keep it on. Saving the galaxy? You’re not going to yell about it. My lead? You’re going to follow it. Capiche?”

“I get it. I’m not a _child_ ,” Donghyuck scoffs.

“Yeah, I noticed. But last time on Onderon you almost got us killed. Taris is a smuggler’s planet _,_ and if a smuggler thinks you can make them a few credits, they’ll kidnap you and sell you to the highest bidder, no further questions asked. And rebels have a high going price with the Empire. So I’m serious,” Jaemin says. “Stick close to me, and if anyone speaks to you, just tell them you’re with me and I’ll take it from there.”

“Okay, okay,” Donghyuck says, shuddering. “Got it.”

“Good,” Jaemin says, pulling his coat on over his vest and strapping a blaster to his thigh. “Let’s get going. I’m supposed to meet Yangyang in a few hours, and he appreciates punctuality.”

Jaemin turns to leave, and Donghyuck hurries to follow, pulling on his own cloak as they go. They exit _The Milenaria_ into the bustling hangar, and the difference between here and Onderon is already painfully obvious.

Men and women in cloaks of all colors scuttle around, avoiding eye contact as they carry out their business. Jaemin leads them through the crowd, head up and chin back, confident as can be, and Donghyuck notes the way that the crowd parts for him as he walks. Maybe Jaemin is a bigger deal than Donghyuck thought. Or maybe it’s just that his overconfidence intimidates his fellow criminals.

They exit the hangar onto one of the main streets of Taharis. Donghyuck looks around in awe as they go, the towering buildings wrapped in wires and twinkling with lights in the dark. High above them, Donghyuck can just barely make out the shadows of stalactites. After all, Taharis is essentially one, giant cavern.

As they walk, Donghyuck notices that they are walking along a road that drops off to one side. When he goes over to look, he sees that Taharis is a multi-layered city, the roads twisting and turning downwards, creating multiple levels, each closer to the planet’s core than the last. And he gets it. It’s a city where it’s easy to get lost; perfect for criminals of all kinds.

But Jaemin never falters. He leads them along a main street, then down a sketchy side alley, through several squares, and around multiple twists and turns until Donghyuck’s head is spinning. There’s no way he’d be able to find his way back to _The Milenaria_ at this point, not even if his life depended on it. He wonders how many times Jaemin has been here that he knows it so well.

Eventually, Jaemin stops in front of a nondescript building and heads inside, Donghyuck hot on his heels. It’s clearly a shop of some kind, the walls lined with tightly packed shelves piled high with strange, mechanical objects that Donghyuck guesses could be ship parts. But they could just as easily be strange, blinking knick-knacks.

Jaemin weaves through the shelves to the front of the shop, where a man sits, his feet up on the counter. He’s clearly not human, his skin blue, ear cones curving over his shoulders, wrapped with leather straps. Twi’lek, then.

“Hendery,” Jaemin greets. The Twi’lek, Hendery, grins, raising a hand in greeting.

“Jaemin,” he says amicably. “Anything catch your eye?”

“Not here,” Jaemin says. “But maybe in the back. Yangyang around?”

“Of course,” Hendery says, standing slowly. “The whole crew, Xiaojun included, before you ask.”

Jaemin raises an eyebrow at that. “What makes you think I’d ask?” Hendery just scoffs.

“Please, everyone heard about your little scuffle on Onderon. The boss was half convinced you were dead, and we should find someone else to cover the contract.”

Jaemin looks troubled by that piece of information, but he doesn’t say anything. Hendery leads them through the back of the shop, and suddenly they’re in what seems to be a nearly empty bar. Several people lounge throughout the room, but Jaemin heads straight towards one sitting casually on top of the bar, spinning a knife in his hands.

“Yangyang,” Jaemin says. The man atop the bar looks up, and a wide smile spreads across his face.

“Jaemin! It’s great to see you. I told Ten you weren’t dead! Besides,” he snorts, sheathing the knife at his hip, “You’re too professional. You’d never die on the job.”

Jaemin laughs, and it’s just the slightest bit colder than Donghyuck is used to. When he smiles, it’s sharp, almost predatory. It sends shivers down Donghyuck’s spine. But Yangyang doesn’t react, just grinning back.

“Of course, Yang. You only hire the best. And I,” Jaemin inclines his head just the slightest bit. “Am the best.”

Yangyang laughs heartily at that, and hops off the bar, clapping Jaemin on the back. “That you are, my friend! Now, where is dear Mili?”

“Hangar Eighty-One B,” Jaemin says easily. “While you’re at it, if you could send Xiaojun I’d be ever so appreciative. The hyperdrive was possibly damaged on my way out of Onderon.”

“Negotiate with him,” Yangyang says, waving him aside. “It’s not my business. But I _am_ curious,” he says, tilting his head just the slightest bit to the left. “What did you do to catch so much negative attention from the Empire?”

Donghyuck stiffens, and Yangyang immediately turns all of his attention on him. “Ah,” he says, eyes narrowing into slits. “I see.”

“Leave it, Yang,” Jaemin says. “I know what you’re thinking, and don’t. I’ve got it under control.”

“You know, the last person to say that to me was Sicheng, when he told me he was going to join up with the Resistance,” Yangyang comments lightly. “And then I never heard from him again.”

The tension is palpable and Donghyuck’s throat clicks dryly as he swallows. _Sicheng is fine, he’s alive,_ he wants to say. But he couldn’t be sure if that would be of any comfort whatsoever to Yangyang. Plus, Jaemin told him to stay quiet, so he keeps his mouth shut.

Jaemin sighs. “Trust me,” he says, putting a hand on Yangyang’s arm. “I can handle a bit of trouble. Don’t worry.” he says, taking his arm back and smiling again, more genuinely this time. “If I was going to die, I’d make sure to find a replacement runner for you, and at the moment, I don’t have anyone in mind.”

Yangyang smiles genuinely back. “Good,” he says. Then he squints, looking around the room. “I think Xiaojun’s around here somewhere. I’ll send him out with my guys after you two talk. Stay in town tonight. Just until I have the goods in hand, yeah?”

“Of course,” Jaemin agrees. “I know the drill. Good seeing you, Yang.”

“You as well, Jaem.” Yangyang sticks his hand out, and Jaemin shakes it. “Always a pleasure doing business with you.”

Jaemin and Yangyang embrace for a moment before Yangyang pulls back, waving goodbye to Jaemin as he goes. Jaemin waves back, and then turns to scan the room. Before Donghyuck has the chance to say anything, he seems to find who he’s looking for and takes off across the room.

Donghyuck scrambles after him, coming up beside him as Jaemin is saying to a table full of smugglers, “Hey, Xiaojun. Let’s make a deal.”

A Mikkian with green, flowing hair and skin nods amicably. “Sure,” he says, standing to follow Jaemin to another table. “Always a pleasure working with Mili, Jaemin. What did you do to her this time?”

“Not really what I did,” Jaemin says, smiling. “More like what the Empire did.”

“Ah,” Xiaojun nods. “Blaster fire damaged the hyperdrive, I’m guessing?”

“Yeah, and who knows what else,” Jaemin says frankly. “She wasn’t flying as smoothly as she should’ve been if it was only the hyperdrive.”

Xiaojun frowns at that. “Hm. Well, if I’m already in there with the hyperdrive, I can check out the rest of the ship’s functions while I’m at it. I can tell you right off the bat that you’re looking at seven hundred credits for the hyperdrive alone. If you want, I’ll fix any problems I find and add it to the bill, but I can also consult with you before going beyond the hyperdrive if you want to know the price ahead of time.”

“Nah, it’s cool,” Jaemin says, shaking his head. “I know you’re fair. Credits aren’t a problem when it comes to Mili. Just go ahead and fix her up.”

“Sure,” Xiaojun says, smiling. “I’ll charge your credit chip.”

“Great,” Jaemin says. “Know how long it’ll take to fix her up?”

“Well, I should have all the parts. Chenle just sold me some new hyperdrives he got off Corellia, and for a ship like Mili, I’ve usually got most other parts on hand,” Xiaojun says. “So she should be good to go by the time you’re ready to leave tomorrow.”

“Perfect,” Jaemin says, and puts a small mound of credits on the table. “Thanks for your time.”

Xiaojun smiles. “Of course, Jaemin. I’m excited to see Mili again.” Jaemin stands, Donghyuck following after, and they leave the near-empty bar back through the shopfront. Hendery waves goodbye to Jaemin as they go, and invites him back around the next time he’s in Taharis to play him in a game of Smuggler’s Run. Jaemin laughs and accepts, and then they’re back out on the streets.

“I told you that it was a real game,” Jaemin says to Donghyuck, smiling smugly. Donghyuck rolls his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah. So where are we headed now?” Donghyuck hurries to catch up to Jaemin, who just keeps walking, looking straight ahead.

“Standard policy. We stay in town overnight so Yangyang can find me if there’s a problem with the goods,” Jaemin explains. “I’m going to find some friends of mine that we can stay with. They live just outside the city.”

“You’re sure we can trust them?” Donghyuck asks, just a bit worried, but Jaemin just laughs.

“Oh yeah. I practically raised both of them in this business. I even introduced them. Not only do we trust each other, but they owe me. Smugglers are always fair,” Jaemin says. “Only interested in ourselves? Sure. But we follow a code, and we respect other smugglers. We have nothing to worry about from them.”

“Okay.” Donghyuck bites his lip, his worries not entirely gone. “If you’re sure.”

“I am,” Jaemin says, completely confident, so Donghyuck lets the subject drop.

They walk for ages, and the crowds begin to thin out. Eventually, Jaemin pauses, and approaches a door, knocking three times.

The door cracks open, and a pair of eyes peek through the crack. Jaemin grins. “Hey Jisung.”

The door swings open, revealing a young man with tousled brown hair streaked with blonde. His shirt is loose but his pants are tight, a blaster at his hip. “Jaemin!” He grins. He looks over his shoulder, calling back into the house, “Hey, Chenle! Jaemin’s here! Get out here!”

A second young man appears behind Jisung, dark hair long enough to tie back, nearly falling in his eyes. “Jaemin! How are you!”

“Good, Chenle,” Jaemin says, grinning. “My hyperdrive is being fixed by Xiaojun right now. So business is going well?”

“Always,” Chenle says cheerfully. “Jisung, what are you doing! Invite them in!”

“Ah, right, sorry,” Jisung says sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. “Come on in.” He steps back, and Jaemin crosses the threshold ahead of Donghyuck.

* * *

The kids are nice. There’s no other way to describe them, really— other than _kids_ , _nice_ , and _slightly_ _annoying_. Jisung and Chenle are younger than them, but Donghyuck can’t tell exactly how much younger by their appearance alone.

Where Chenle is loud, Jisung is quiet, maybe a bit more shy—but both equally talkative. Jaemin makes small talk excitedly, catching up with them and hearing about their latest adventures too. Jaemin treats them as equals, as old friends and coworkers, and Donghyuck finds it just the slightest bit endearing.

“Can I look around?” Donghyuck asks, curious. He doesn’t understand much of what they‘re saying, and he’s not sure he wants to, anyway.

“Sure, go ahead,” Chenle says with a smile. “Any friend of Jaemin is a friend of ours, after all.”

Jaemin gives him a smile that screams _I told you so_ at that, and Donghyuck thanks them before leaving the room, the iron door screeching behind him. Outside, there’s not much for him to entertain himself with. His main interests are pretty much just the Resistance, the Empire, and ships, anyway. But the place is big, at least. He can do some walking, glad to be able to stretch his legs after being locked up in a medium-sized ship for a week.

There are trees everywhere, their massive branches reaching out and fusing into the metallic structure of the hideout. There’s a deck made of concrete and metal with lots of crates of random objects piled up everywhere Donghyuck looks. Ship parts, tools, strange looking accessories.

Donghyuck is in the middle of observing a particularly interesting detached ship’s wing when he hears footsteps behind him.

“This place is cool, right?” Jaemin says.

“Yeah,” Donghyuck hums, turning around so they are facing each other. “I have no idea what half of this stuff is, though,” he adds, gesturing around vaguely to the assortment of metal scraps.

“But that’s the beauty of it,” Jaemin says, eyes shining as he looks around. He takes another step towards Donghyuck. “Anyways, I wanted to show you where we’re staying. Chenle and Jisung said we could take a shower while we are at it.”

“Great,” Donghyuck says, nodding. He could use a shower. They had stopped showering after day three of their trip, trying to save as much water as possible.

“There’s no hot water left, though,” Jaemin says as they walk back to the main structure. “It’s almost nighttime, and the reactors need light to function.”

“Are you kidding?” Donghyuck asks. It’s not that he’s high maintenance, but this place is cold. He would freeze to death.

“Completely joking!” Jaemin grins, patting his back. “You should’ve seen the look on your face.”

“Haha, very funny,” Donghyuck says humorlessly, slapping Jaemin’s hand off his back.

“Cheer up,” Jaemin says. “Enjoy your stay in Taris, hot water included.”

Donghyuck just shakes his head, exasperated.

* * *

The guest room is made out of concrete, with one large window. There’s exposed iron pipes on the ceiling and a few on one of the walls. Donghyuck eyes the desk in the back of the room, the blueprints attached to the wall, and the big bed— it’s only one. As Jaemin had explained before showing him the place, Jisung and Chenle don’t have many visitors, so there’s only one guest room, no need for more.

“There’s no way in hell I’m sleeping in the same bed as you,” Donghyuck deadpans.

“Why not?” Jaemin asks, a hand coming to his hip, and a smirk on his face. “Afraid you might want a piece of this?”

“Afraid I might choke you to death!” Donghyuck replies, face hot.

“Relax,” Jaemin says, chuckling, and pointing to the bed. “It’s a big bed.” Donghyuck sighs, looking at it again. The mattress looks uncomfortable, but the big itself is big. Big enough to fit both of them comfortably. Jaemin raises an eyebrow. “What, would you rather sleep on the floor? ‘Cause I wouldn’t mind having the extra space.”

“Fine,” Donghyuck surrenders, looking at the small rug on the floor and kicking at it with his foot. “You’re against the wall, though.”

“I don’t mind,” Jaemin replies, sitting on the bed, putting his hands at his sides and leaning back. “I hope you don’t hog the blankets, though, or I might have to fight you.”

“I won't!” Donghyuck exclaims, huffing.

Jaemin chuckles. “Good.”

“Hey!” Chenle’s voice is loud, even coming from outside the room, and it startles them for a second. They both turn their heads to look at the door, and Chenle appears in the doorway just a few seconds later. “Jisung and I were thinking we should go celebrate. You know, for another job well done?”

Jaemin immediately brightens. “Sure! Same as always?”

Chenle waves. “Obviously,” he replies. Then, he pinches his nose, frowning. “Go shower first, though. You two stink!” He says, laughing, as he makes his way out of the room. “We’ll be waiting for you!”

Donghyuck brings his shirt to his nose and takes a sniff. “I don’t stink,” he mutters, scowling.

“You kinda do,” Jaemin says.

“Shut up,” Donghyuck pokes him in the ribs with his elbow. “You stink too.”

Jaemin just laughs, bright and clear.

* * *

Apparently, _same as always_ meant a questionable bar at the heart of Taharis. Donghyuck watches every step as he goes—he knows by now that he can’t trust anyone here. But the more they walk, the more he feels completely lost. By the end, he doesn’t know how they get to the bar. It’s hard to try and be aware of his surroundings, especially when the city still feels like a giant labyrinth to him, tall buildings made out of metal dancing in the dark sky, only connected by bridges.

The bar is named Trish’s Tavern. They make it inside without much hassle, even though there’s a lot of people at this hour, coming in and out from the building.

“Aren’t you two underage?” He whispers to Chenle, eyes darting to the three Wookies guarding the door. “How can you get in here?”

Chenle lets out a laugh. “You’re funny,” he says, as he scans the room, looking for a place to sit.

“No, he’s actually serious,” Jaemin says, as he points at one of the boots in the back of the room. Donghyuck feels his cheeks redden. It was a legitimate question, wasn’t it?

“No way!” Chenle exclaims, eyes wide, as he looks at him. Donghyuck just huffs, indignant. “Shit, he is!” Chenle laughs again as they all move towards the table. “First of all, we’re not underage. I’m 18, and Jisung here is 17.”

Jisung nods, sliding into the booth beside Chenle.

“That’s considered underage on most planets, though,” Donghyuck comments, taking his place across from Chenle and Jisung as Jaemin steps back, allowing him to sit first.

“There’s no rules here, Haechan,” Jaemin explains patiently. He makes a sweeping gesture, and an holographic menu comes up in front of their faces. “Just mind your own business, and pay your bills.”

“Yeah,” Chenle says, a cheshire grin on his face. “Jaemin sure knows a lot about _that_.”

That catches Donghyuck attention’s—the way Chenle talks like he’s teasing Jaemin, some kind of secret joke between them.

“What?” Donghyuck asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Shut it, Chenle,” Jaemin whines, and he punches Donghyuck on the shoulder with almost no force. “Don’t encourage him, Haechan!”

Chenle ignores his protest with an innocent grin. “This guy here got into trouble for drinking without paying once,” he says conspiratorially. Jaemin groans as Donghyuck mutters a shocked _no_ under his breath. “Yes! He was banned from the Tavern until he became friends with Hyunjin,” Chenle continues, pointing at the counter. “He’s the bartender. And from what I’ve heard, they’re _very_ friendly.”

Donghyuck laughs, looking at the bartender. He’s a tall guy with long black hair and foxy eyes. He’s handsome enough for someone like Jaemin, he supposes.

“Oh, is that so?” Donghyuck replies, amused, as he turns to look at Jaemin.

Jaemin, for the first time since Donghyuck’s met him, actually looks kind of embarrassed. “ _So_ ,” he says, pointedly changing the subject. “What do you want to drink, Haechan?”

“Uh,” Donghyuck mutters, eyeing the menu. _Lava-skimmer, Jelly block, Dry run, Taharisian especial._ Not one drink rings a bell for him. “Uh, I guess I’ll have…” He sees a particular name, and smiles. “ _Rebel scum_ ,” he decides.

“Of course you would,” Jaemin replies with a chuckle. “Just tap on the name twice if you don’t want anything else.”

Donghyuck does, and the menu disappears. He nods to himself, satisfied. His eyes wander around the tavern as the rest of them place their orders. It’s dark, same as everywhere in Taharis. There’s a few tables around, but they’re mostly empty. The majority of the crowd is currently gathered around a big rectangular table in the middle of the place. It looks like they’re playing a game, cards in hand and money in front of them.

“What’s that?” Donghyuck asks, eyeing what he assumes are the players. They are standing just like everyone else, but they’re the only ones that have cards. The rest of the crowd cheers and boos as the players place down cards, presumably in support of whoever they’re betting on.

“Smuggler’s Run,” Jisung replies, looking in the same direction. “It’s a pretty well known game around here.”

“Yeah, not a fan,” Donghyuck says, leaning back, suddenly disinterested. By his side Jaemin snickers as he taps the hologram a few times before it disappears in front of him.

“I’m guessing Jaemin here beat you up in a game already,” Chenle says, as one of the waiters approaches them with the drinks they ordered. He’s a Rodian, with green skin and large eyes. Donghyuck watches him leave their drinks on the table without a word before rushing back. “Thank you!” Chenle calls after him.

“It’s okay,” Jisung says, looking at Donghyuck. “It takes a lot of practice to improve. Jaemin has been playing for years.”

“Yeah,” Jaemin admits, taking two drinks and putting one in front of Donghyuck. “It’s like being a smuggler, you know? You gotta immerse yourself in the game before you really understand it.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Donghyuck says, holding back a laugh. He eyes the greenish drink in front of him. “But whatever,” he dismisses, as he brings the glass to his lips and takes a tentative sip. “Oh, this is good.”

“It is,” Jaemin says, smiling. “Do you wanna taste this one?” He offers, handing him his own drink.

Donghyuck doesn’t see why not. It’s not everyday he gets to taste drinks on Taris, after all.

“ _Shit_ ,” he says, the alcohol burning his throat slightly. It’s pleasant, sweet and refreshing. “This one’s even better.”

“Don’t they have drinks back at your little base camp or whatever?” Jaemin teases, raising an eyebrow as Donghyuck takes another sip from his drink.

“Sometimes,” he confesses, handing him back the glass. “Never as good as these, though.” It’s true. They don’t have the luxury to spend their resources on alcohol. They only drink on really special occasions, and nothing fancy, like these drinks.

“Go ahead, then,” Jaemin says, pushing Donghyuck’s hand back. “I’ll just order another one.”

Donghyuck nods, and Chenle laughs. “Cheers!” He exclaims, lifting his glass in the air. “To Haechan, for discovering the power of a good drink.”

Donghyuck shakes his head, but lifts his glass to clink against Chenle’s anyway.

* * *

Donghyuck doesn’t think he’s drunk until he tries to stand up. Then he suddenly feels off kilter, and he’s forced to catch most of his weight on the table so he doesn’t fall.

“Woah,” he says, laughing. “Is the floor moving or something?”

“No,” a voice replies. Donghyuck looks up. _Jaemin._ Right. “That’s all you.”

Donghyuck laughs again, for no reason at all. Maybe it’s just Jaemin that’s funny, with his blue hair, and his stupidly charming smile. He laughs again.

“C’mon,” Jaemin nudges, patting him on the back. “Let’s get back.”

Donghyuck nods, following Jaemin’s lead, who has a steady hand pressed against the small of his back. Jisung and Chenle walk ahead of them, side by side, their arms brushing against each other. Donghyuck snorts at them.

They keep walking until they have to cross the bridge that leads outside of Taharis and onto the surface. As the bridge gets smaller, the distance between the buildings on each side of the path narrows too, to the point where Donghyuck could reach out and touch the walls, if he wanted.

“This place is trippy,” Donghyuck says, shuddering. “It gives me the creeps.”

Jaemin just laughs. “Well, I can see why. I wouldn't say Taharis is welcoming.”

“Wait, can you slow down?” Donghyuck says, legs tired. He stumbles forward when he slows his pace and Jaemin doesn’t, the hand still on his back pushing him forward. Donghyuck panics and grabs whatever’s closest for balance—and that turns out to be Jaemin.

“Careful!” Jaemin exclaims, putting both of his hands on Donghyuck’s waist. Donghyuck giggles, and Jaemin frowns at him. “Stop grabbing the collar of my jacket,” he says, annoyed. “You’re kinda choking me, here, Haechan.”

“Uh—” Donghyuck mutters, loosening his grip on Jaemin’s collar and straightening himself. He smooths down Jaemin’s jacket with his hands. “Sorry.”

“Here,” Jaemin says, sliding an arm around Donghyuck’s waist to support him. “Just—” he clicks his tongue. “Let’s not rush this time.”

Donghyuck nods, and they start walking again, slower this time.

“You make a pretty funny drunk, you know that?” Jaemin murmurs in his ear.

Donghyuck shivers, feeling the heat of Jaemin’s breath close to his neck. It's a stark contrast to the coldness of the air. There’s no wind or breeze in Taharis, but there’s also no sun to warm the place. “I’m _not_ drunk,” Donghyuck settles for saying after a while.

He takes a deep breath, and he feels somewhat better, his head clearer.

“Sure,” Jaemin says, laughing. “And I’m a _Jedi_.”

Donghyuck laughs until there are tears in his eyes.

* * *

Donghyuck wakes up to sunlight shining on his face. His head hurts, the light leaving blind spots in his vision. He groans, closing his eyes tightly. He picks up the pillow and puts it over his head.

“Morning, sunshine,” a now familiar voice greets him.

It’s Jaemin. Again.

Donghyuck groans again, lifting the pillow and throwing it to his left in an attempt to hit Jaemin. But Jaemin just snorts, easily avoiding the pillow, and Donghyuck is half tempted to tell him to shut up, but he’s still a bit sleepy and confused, head pounding with hangover induced grogginess. Ugh. Why did he drink so much?

Donghyuck blinks, turning his head to the side. Jaemin’s lying beside him, leaning his chin on his palm.

“Did you know that you kick in your sleep?” Jaemin asks, with a perfect smile on his face.

Donghyuck scowls, offended. “You snore!”

“You kicked me in the face last night.”

“Yes, because you were _snoring!”_ Donghyuck argues.

Jaemin doesn’t reply. Instead, he shakes his head and stands up from the bed, laughing. He has no shirt on, and Donghyuck stares at his naked back almost unconsciously. He notices Jaemin’s broad shoulders, the way his slightly tanned skin looks against the sun.

Donghyuck tears his eyes away and takes Jaemin’s pillow, putting it above his head. He needs a few more minutes of sleep. He’s still hungover, it seems.

* * *

They get the ship.

Jaemin wakes him up a few hours later, after he has already gotten the all-clear from Xiaojun. “We’re good to go,” Jaemin tells him. Donghyuck yawns into his hand. He feels much better, the headache almost gone. His throat is another story, though.

“Go take a shower. You reek of alcohol,” Jaemin adds. “You’re _not_ getting inside Mili with that smell.”

“Fuck you,” Donghyuck replies, but there’s no heat in it. He stands up slowly, throwing the sheets to the side.

“Now, is that any way to treat your captain?” Jaemin smirks. “I can finally keep my word and take you back to your little base.”

“For your information, it’s not _little_ ,” Donghyuck says, extending his hands above his head to stretching his back.

“Whatever you say.” Jaemin snorts. “Where are we going, anyway?”

And well— there’s no other way around it, really. He knows enough about Jaemin now to be sure he’s not interested in selling them out to the Empire. He doesn’t seem to care much about it, just choosing to stay away from it altogether. He just does everything for his own convenience. Donghyuck doesn’t understand it, but at least this way he can trust Jaemin with the location of the base without worrying too much.

“Yavin IV,” Donghyuck says with an exhale, lowering his arms, and stretching his torso instead.

At that, Jaemin goes silent, easy smile frozen on his face.

“What? C’mon, it isn’t even that far!” Donghyuck exclaims, even though that’s totally untrue. It _is_ far away. In the Outer Rim Territories at the other side of this galaxy, to be exact. “I bet you’re been to further places!”

“Yeah, you’re gonna have to pay me a lot more than what you offered me if you still want me to take you _there,”_ Jaemin says, crossing his arms over his chest.

Donghyuck doesn’t really have much of a choice, anyway. Jaemin is his only hope to get safely back to Headquarters. He doesn’t know anyone else here willing him to take him based on promises alone.

“Fine,” Donghyuck settles for saying.

He’s all the way in, now.

* * *

They say goodbye to Chenle and Jisung. Jaemin thanks them profusely, promising to bring them something back from the Outer Rim. Donghyuck says goodbye too, thanking them and giving each of them a warm hug.

He likes them. He doesn’t know why, but he does. Not everyone lets a complete stranger inside their hideout. Donghyuck is grateful.

They get to the ship, now stationed in a hangar just outside their friend’s hideout, courtesy of Yangyang and his crew.

“Look at you, Mili,” Jaemin says, walking through the boarding platform, admiring his ship. “All shiny and new.”

“Yes, yes,” Donghyuck says, as they make their way to the cabin, the platform lifting behind them and sealing the ship. “As much as I like to see you give you heart eyes to your ship, it’s all good and fixed now, right? It won’t take a week like last time? I’m in a bit of hurry here.”

“It won’t,” Jaemin says, as he puts on his seatbelt, letting the ship’s engines warm up. He pushes a handle down slightly right after, and the ship rises above the ground. Donghyuck puts on his seat belt too. “Patience is a virtue, Donghyuck.”

Donghyuck is ready to reply when the ship clears the atmosphere and jumps to lightspeed like it’s nothing. He feels sick almost instantly, the contents of his stomach lurching.

“I fucking hate this ship,” he groans, grabbing his belly.

By his side, Jaemin snickers at him.

* * *

True to Jaemin’s word, it doesn’t take them a week this time around. The trip is only a day long, and Donghyuck spends most of it sleeping and lazing around in bed.

Jaemin wakes him up when they’re close to Yavin’s orbit.

“Hey, we’re almost there,” he says, as Donghyuck rubs his eyes. “You have to let them hear your voice,” he adds, and Donghyuck nods, understanding. Jaemin’s smart. He figured he’d need to contact his base so they don’t get in trouble for trying to land there.

Donghyuck stands up, and follows Jaemin to the cabin, feeling jittery all of sudden.

This is _it_. This is when he gets back to the Headquarters and delivers the news about his mission. He turns around to look at Jaemin, and Jaemin hands him the communicator.

Everyone will be surprised at his companion. He’s sure Mark will understand, though, once he explains everything that happened back in Onderon.

“This is Spectre-Two,” he says. “I repeat, this is Spectre-Two requesting permission to land. Over.”

“ _Donghyuck!”_ A voice says thought the comm. It’s Jeno. Donghyuck could cry with relief.

“Nice name,” Jaemin says, eyebrows raised, looking at him from the corner of his eye.

Donghyuck can’t even bring himself to care. Not when he’s close to being back home. He grips the comm tighter.

This is it.

* * *

They approach Yavin IV without any major problems. Jaemin isn’t as smooth navigating around Yarvin’s orbit as Donghyuck is, but that’s to be expected. Donghyuck has done this exact same trip countless times.

He sees the familiar colors of the moon he calls home, and his heart swells with joy. Jaemin slows down the ship, the hyperdrive now deactivated. They get closer to Yavin IV’s surface, and Donghyuck directs Jaemin towards the Headquarters. Donghyuck stops him when they reach the pyramid, their base, and points it out to Jaemin.

It’s relatively easy to see the landing strip just outside the base, and Jaemin slows down to land effortlessly in the center of the hangar. He tells Jaemin to wait inside the ship as he handles everything, eyeing the various people that have approached the ship from the outside.

He descends the boarding platform alone, and is immediately greeted by his friends.

“Hyuck!” Jeno exclaims, walking towards him. “We were so worried for you!” He adds, putting a hand on his arm.

Donghyuck smiles, feeling warm. He’s missed them _so_ much. “I’m sorry I couldn’t contact you sooner, I got caught up in stuff.” He says. “You know how it goes sometimes.”

“Man,” Renjun says, giving him a pat on the back. “I’m so glad you made it.” His eyes are shining. “There’s no one else I could stand as my flying partner, really.”

Donghyuck laughs, pulling Renjun into a tight hug. He knows Renjun doesn’t really like hugging, but this situation totally calls for it. “You mean no one else is willing to put up with your crap, Renjunnie.”

“Hyuck!” Mark exclaims, jogging over to him from the other side of the hangar. “Glad to see you back!” He says as he catches up to them, giving the ship behind them a look. “Where did you get this ship? Did someone give it to you?” He asks, voice tight, and Donghyuck cringes internally.

“Well...” Donghyuck hesitates. How does he say he brought a smuggler with him, back to the base? There isn’t really a good way to break the news to Mark. He decides to go with simple, plain truth. “There’s something I need to tell you. Actually, a smuggler helped me out and gave me a ride here. I was—”

“Hello, everyone!” a voice behind him says. _Jaemin_. “Sorry to ruin your little welcome party!”

“Jaemin!” Donghyuck exclaims, turning around with a scowl on his face. “I told you to wait inside!”

“Who’s this, Hyuck?” Renjun asks, turning around to look at Jaemin too.

“Jaemin!” Mark suddenly says, and the four of them turn around at the same time to look at Mark, who looks shocked, eyes wide and eyebrows furrowed, like he’s seen a ghost.

“Wait, you know him?” Donghyuck asks Mark. He looks at Jaemin, and then at Mark, and then back at Jaemin, who only gives him a smirk. _What? How could they possibly know each other?_

 _“Know_ him?” Mark says, eyes wide. “Of course I know him!”

Jaemin takes another step down the boarding platform, smirk spreading across his face. “Long time no see, big brother.”

Right there, Donghyuck’s brain literally melts. _“Brother?!_ ” he blurts out.

“He’s my half brother,” Mark says, grinning as he walks up to Jaemin. “I’m glad to see you well, Jaemin,” he says to him. For a moment, it looks like he’s going to pull him into a hug but he stops short, awkwardly extending him a hand to shake.

“Likewise,” Jaemin says, looking at Mark’s hand, amused. He raises an eyebrow. “C’mon, not even a hug for your favorite brother?” Jaemin laughs, closing the gap, and engulfing Mark in a tight hug. “Glad to see you’re still in one piece,” he jokes, as Mark chuckles, and leans into the hug.

“Still the same loving guy I remember,” Mark says next, his smile a little less strained now. “How’s the galaxy been treating you, Nana?”

 _Nana?_ Donghyuck turns to look at Renjun and Jeno. _Nana?_ He mutters, but both boys shrug at him, equally clueless.

“Well, I can’t complain, really,” Jaemin replies, throwing an arm around Mark’s shoulder easily. “I’ve been pretty busy. You know how it is,” he adds, a satisfied smile on his face. “Ever since I left Ten’s ring I’ve been—”

At this point, Donghyuck tunes out the conversation. He can’t listen to it anymore, his brain is too busy literally _breaking._

_What the fuck?_

There’s _no way_ Jaemin is Mark’s brother.

Mark, stoic as fuck, always serious when he needs to be. Mister ‘ _We are going to save the whole world’_ , Mark Lee? Padawan Mark Lee? Yeah, no _way_ he’s related to Jaemin, who’s all smiles and jokes and barely-there morals, at best. A _smuggler._ A petty criminal, plain and simple.

Yeah, _no_. This can’t be true. They’re as different as night and day.

“Wait, you never told us you had a brother,” Renjun suddenly says, narrowing his eyes at Mark.

Donghyuck nods furiously, and Jeno hums, looking back and forth between Jaemin and Mark.

“You never asked!” Mark says to them, shrugging with a smile. He turns to look at Jaemin again, sobering. “I’m seriously so glad to see you, Jaemin.”

“Sure, Mark,” Jaemin replies, rolling his eyes. “You don’t have to pretend to like me now, you know? We all know I’m the black sheep of the family,” he says, laughing awkwardly. Donghyuck winces. The tension between them is palpable.

Mark frowns. “But I don’t—”

“So,” Jaemin exclaims, interrupting Mark, and clapping his hands together. “You have to show me around this fantastic base camp or whatever! Haechan— No, I mean, _Donghyuck,_ told me that it’s pretty big,” he says next, glancing at him.

Donghyuck wants to reply, to ask them more questions, but before he can, Mark is talking again.

“Oh, for sure!” Mark brightens up, gesturing to the door and leading Jaemin out of the room. “We call it Headquarters, but this isn’t our main base. Even then, I’d say it’s pretty big for the amount of people stationed here—” Mark’s voice trails off, and Donghyuck tries to quiet down the low-level of internal screaming that has been happening in his brain for the past few minutes. He turns to Renjun and Jeno, who both seem as bewildered as he’s feeling right now.

“Okay, what the fuck was _that_?” Renjun says, breaking the silence.

“Hell if I know!” Donghyuck replies, his head still spinning from all the new information. Jaemin. Jaemin is Mark’s half brother.

“Who the hell is Jaemin, anyway?” Renjun says, exasperated. “Apart from Mark’s little brother, I mean.”

“He’s a fucking smuggler,” Donghyuck answers, shaking his head.

“He’s a _what_?” Jeno exclaims, eyes widening in surprise.

“You heard me right,” Donghyuck says, pinching his nose. He didn’t sign up for this. Everything is messy now. On the bright side, Mark might be not so upset that he brought Jaemin to the Headquarters. _Maybe_. “My getaway ship failed on Onderon. I overheard someone talking about a smuggler who takes people across the galaxy for the right price. So I asked him for help,” he explains. “But we had to make a stop on Taris because his ship's hyperdrive got damaged when we were attacked.”

“Stormtroopers?” Renjun asks, glancing at Jeno, who grimaces.

“Yeah, same as always,” Donghyuck says with a sigh. “Anyways, he was nice enough to get me here, so that has to count for something. I’m sure he’ll still want his payment, though.”

“That’s wild, Hyuck,” Renjun says, leaning forward. “But at least you managed to get out alive.”

Donghyuck knows just by looking at him that he’s dying to ask, so he answers before Renjun has to. “I did. And the mission was successful, too. I got the info,” he says. The three of them grin at one another. Any information they can get to use against the Empire is a cause for celebration, after all. “I think the data plaque is encrypted, though, so I’ll probably have to run it by Jungwoo.”

“I’m sure he’ll figure something out,” Jeno says, smiling with his eyes now, too. “Let’s get inside, shall we? He should be somewhere in the control center. The sooner he gets to look at it the better.”

“Yeah, Jeno’s right,” Renjun says. “Let’s go.”

They turn to go in the same direction Mark and Jaemin went, heading inside.

The scene that greets them when they enter the control room is fairly dramatic. Mark and Jaemin stand on opposite sides of a control board, frowning at one another. It’s a stark contrast to the way they’d looked before, arms slung over each other’s shoulders.

“I just don’t see why you have to go so soon, Jaemin,” Mark’s saying.

Jaemin shrugs. “I brought back your long lost rebel. The Resistance paid me for my trouble. I have no more business here, so I don’t really see any reasons why I should stay,” he says. Mark flinches backward as if he’d been burned.

“No reasons to stay?” Mark says, voice raw. “I think you have some pretty obvious ones.”

Jaemin’s face, previously smiling tensely, immediately closes off completely. “Listen, Mark,” he says angrily. “I’ve made it clear from day one that I’m not interested in joining the Resistance. Sorry, but my mind hasn’t changed since we last saw each other.”

Mark seems taken aback. “That’s not what I—”

“Save it,” Jaemin scoffs. “Sorry that you’re just an _inherently_ better person than me. I get it. I don’t need to hear this shit from you, I’ve heard enough from Dad already.”

“Jaemin!” Mark growls out, visibly frustrated. “You’re _not listening!”_

“Why should I listen to you?” Jaemin says flippantly. “I’ve heard all this high-and-mighty Rebel bullshit before. I don’t need to hear it again.”

And that’s when Donghyuck’s had enough of Jaemin’s attitude. “Jaemin,” he says, exasperated. “Mark’s not trying to antagonize you. You’re an amazing pilot,” he continues, walking to stand beside Mark, facing Jaemin. “Your skills are wasted on smuggling. Don’t you get it? You could do _so much good_ here,” he says, reaching out to put his hand on Jaemin’s shoulder.

Jaemin goes stock still, eyes full of betrayal. He wrenches his shoulder out of Donghyuck’s grasp, and takes several, hasty steps back. “I’m not a rebel pilot,” Jaemin tells him, visibly upset. “Sorry if you thought that I would change after meeting you, but I’m a smuggler. Disappointing people is what I do for a living.”

He turns on his heel and tries to leave, but Mark calls out for him at the last second, his voice breaking on Jaemin’s name, and Jaemin pauses in the doorway. “Please,” Mark whispers. “Don’t leave yet. Onderon won’t be safe for you. The Empire is still looking for _The Milenaria.”_ Jaemin jerks, making a half aborted step forward. Mark swallows back a sob, the sound clear, and he stops again. “Please,” Mark whispers.

“Fine,” Jaemin says tightly, voice clipped. “I’ll stay for now. But as soon as it’s clear, I’m gone. Understood?”

Mark sags with relief. “Of course,” he says. Jaemin nods once, sharply, and then he’s gone, vanishing around the corner.

For a long moment, there’s only silence, and then Donghyuck huffs, leaning against a guardrail. “What’s his fucking problem?” he scoffs.

“Donghyuck.” At that, Donghyuck’s eyes widen, and he turns to face Mark, who just looks defeated. “You really shouldn’t have done that.”

“What?” Donghyuck frowns, crossing his arms.. “He was being an asshole to you, Mark! You just asked him to stick around for a while and help out! Is that so much to ask?” He scoffs. “What’s out there for him anyway? A life of crime?”

“Yeah, why are you defending him?” Renjun pipes up. Even Jeno’s brow is furrowed, frowning at the empty doorway where Jaemin had been just a few moments earlier.

“You don’t know my brother, so I’d appreciate it if you all stopped saying these things about him,” Mark said, voice hard. “He’s been through a lot, and a lot of it is because of me, so he has every right to feel however he wants about the Resistance.”

Mark sighs, rubbing his temples. “Come on,” he mutters, gesturing for Donghyuck, Renjun, and Jeno to follow him. He leads them out of the control room, into a more private conference room.

“What I’m going to tell you doesn’t leave this room,” he tells them, businesslike. “And that’s an order. Understood?”

“Understood,” they chorus back at him. Mark nods.

“Good.” He drops the detached tone, and pulls out one of the chairs around the table, sinking down into it. “Sit down.”

They do.

“Jaemin and I share a mother,” Mark begins. “She was a Jedi, and she passed down her midi-chlorians, so both Jaemin and I have a pretty high count. High enough to become Jedi,” Mark says wryly, gesturing to his robes. “When she died in combat, we both went to live with my father, and before long we were contacted by Masters of the Jedi Order, wishing to take us on as apprentices. Our father prompted us both to join the Order, and so we did. I became Johnny’s padawan, and Jaemin became Jaehyun’s.”

“I never knew that Jaehyun had a padawan,” Jeno mutters. Jaehyun wasn’t around, he was stationed at the base on Dantooine, but Donghyuck knew that he and Jeno had been on a mission together a few months back.

“It’s not common knowledge,” Mark says. He sighs, and continues. “When we began our training, I was about eight years old. Jaemin was seven. Jedi training is difficult, and it’s not for everyone. I had a natural aptitude for it, but Jaemin…” Mark sighs, shaking his head. “He worked twice as hard as me. He was a great student, and Jaehyun always praised his dedication, but our father…” Mark laughs, but it’s hollow. “Let’s just say that he didn’t see things _quite_ the same way.”

“Every time we visited home, our father would praise me and bash Jaemin for his lack of improvement. The fact that Jaemin was trying his best and working hard meant nothing to him.” Mark shrugs like it’s no big deal, but his shoulders are tense and his voice is tight. “All he saw was my ability, and he discounted Jaemin’s. It was awful, and it put a strain not only on my relationship with Jaemin, but Jaemin’s own ability to grow and train as a Jedi.”

“I don’t really know what the final straw was,” Mark admits. “Things were so tense between Jaemin and I at that point that we weren’t really talking. I can’t imagine how he felt—like all his work meant nothing, like my father would never treat us equally. He must have felt like an outsider in his own home.” Mark’s eyes are full of tears now, and they are fixed on the table, avoiding eye contact with them. “Maybe he just couldn’t take the pressure any longer. At sixteen, he quit the Jedi Order and vanished. I didn’t hear from him for over three years.”

Mark sniffs, but he pulls himself together in order to continue. “When he surfaced again, I didn’t recognize him at first. We ran into one another in the market on Coruscant. I still don’t know what he was doing there, to be honest. He smiled and told me he had a ship now, and he was mostly on Onderon, but if I ever needed to find him and he wasn’t there, he could also be on Taris, or on a run. We never really talked about it, but I caught his drift immediately.”

“I’ve seen him around a few times since then, and only once since the Resistance began. That’s when I told him I’d be stationed on Yavin IV. Most of the time, our conversations are strained, and he obviously thinks that I still think the same way Dad did about his life choices.”

“Yeah, he reacted pretty badly when I told him that I was stationed on Yavin IV,” Donghyuck says frankly, the guilt already starting to eat at him. “He didn’t seem thrilled about having to come here at all, but he never backed out. He told me that he always keeps his word.”

“Sounds like Jaemin,” Mark says fondly. Then he frowns, straightening his seat and turning to make eye contact with them. “Every time I went home after Jaemin left, my dad would talk about how irresponsible he was for wasting his talents, and I always just wanted to scream at him, because it was _him_ that drove Jaemin to make those choices.”

“I won’t pretend to understand everything about Jaemin and his lifestyle, but I know that it makes him happy. And he _deserves_ to be happy after all the shit my dad put him through,” Mark says firmly. “I don’t care that Jaemin is a smuggler. He’s not obligated to join the Resistance just because he’s a good pilot. I would never ask anything like that from him. The only reason I wanted him to stay is because I haven’t gotten the chance to see him in over a year, and the last time we really saw one another for any extended period of time was when we were teenagers.”

Mark sighs and stands. “That’s really all I have to tell you. Just… cut Jaemin some slack, okay? Like I said, he’s been through enough, and he shouldn’t have to change.” Mark smiles, but his eyes are deadly serious. “If you guys can’t like him for who he is, then I’d rather you stayed away from him. He doesn’t deserve to be hurt any more.”

“Of course,” Jeno says, eyes wide. “He’s obviously had a rough go of it. We won’t pile on.”

Renjun nods, agreeing. “Seems fair.”

“Jaemin’s a really good guy,” Donghyuck admits. “He’s been nothing but nice to me since I’ve met him, and I shouldn’t have been so quick to assume the worst.” The guilt is _really_ eating at him now.

“Don’t beat yourself up about it, Hyuck,” Mark says, patting him reassuringly on the shoulder. “You didn’t know.”

“Mark’s right,” Renjun interjects. “But now you _do_ know, and you regret what you said, so you should apologize.”

“Yeah!” Jeno agrees, smiling encouragingly. “I’m sure he can’t have gone too far. Plus, if he’s going to stick around for awhile it’s better if you two sort things out sooner rather than later.”

“You’re right, guys,” Donghyuck says, pushing up from the table. “I’ll go see if I can find him.”

* * *

Predictably, Jaemin is in the hangar, laying on top of one of Mili’s wings and staring up at the ceiling. His arms are behind his head, his eyes closed.

Donghyuck crosses the hangar to Mili and hoists himself up onto the wing. Jaemin’s eyes stay firmly shut, but Donghyuck can see his lips press into a thinner line. He sighs, and lays down beside him.

“Hey Jaemin.”

Jaemin cracks one eye open, titling his head to look at Donghyuck. “Here to lecture me some more?”

“No,” Donghyuck says, wincing. “I’m here to apologize.”

Jaemin’s eyebrows fly up towards his hairline. “Oh really?” He relaxes, just the slightest bit of tension bleeding out of his shoulders. He continues, voice tinged with amusement. “Well, go on then.”

“I shouldn’t expect you to be like me and the others,” Donghyuck says frankly, embarrassment worming its way into his chest. He can feel the warmth in his cheeks, but he grits his teeth and continues, because Jaemin deserves a proper apology. “You’ve made it clear from the start that the Resistance isn’t your scene, and that doesn’t make you a bad person. You’re not with the Empire, you’re not the enemy here. In fact, you’re a really nice guy.” Donghyuck sighs, turning to face Jaemin head on. “The Resistance is my whole life. I got so caught up in it that I couldn’t see things from your perspective, and that wasn’t fair to you. So I’m sorry.”

“Donghyuck,” Jaemin says, sitting up. Donghyuck follows suit and they sit, facing one another. Jaemin softens, smiling. “I get it. It’s really important to you. I’m just sick of people always assuming that they're better than me, whether they’re Stormtroopers or rebel soldiers.”

“I’m a smuggler,” Jaemin continues, “because being a smuggler means that I’m _free._ I don’t have to face anyone else’s judgement, or follow anyone else’s rules. I do what I think is right, and other smugglers that I know respect my decisions. If I make a stupid decision and I get killed, then that’s on me. Nobody in the smuggling world will pity me.”

“I don’t expect you to understand it,” Jaemin tells him. “But I do expect you to respect my decision when I say that I’m not going to join the Resistance. I’m perfectly happy with what I’ve decided to do to oppose the Empire.”

“From now on, I promise I will,” Donghyuck tells him sincerely. Then he breaks out in a grin. “Your naturally lawless ways are enough of an annoyance to the Empire for you, then?”

Jaemin rolls his eyes, but he smiles. “Yeah, that’s a bonus. But most of what I do is smuggling food supplies to the Outer Rim Territories and Wild Space.”

Donghyuck pauses mid-laugh, absorbing that piece of information. The Outer Rim Territories and beyond them, in Wild Space, have been declared a part of the Empire by the Chancellor. But ever since their governments have been displaced by the Stormtroopers, most planets have become lawless and destabilized, the people going hungry in the streets and the Empire doing nothing to quell the unrest. Unlike the Inner Rim planets, the planets in the Outer Rim and Wild Space don’t contribute much to the Empire, so they mostly just leave them in ruin.

They’re extremely dangerous to visit, and nearly every one of them is suffering from massive humanitarian crises. To find out that Jaemin has risked his own life to aid the people there… Donghyuck stares at him, seeing him in a whole new light. Jaemin just smirks, raising an eyebrow.

“What, not what you expected from your local law-breaking smuggler?” He asks. “Chenle and Jisung come too on occasion, and even Yangyang and his crew. Ten himself has made a couple runs, and he barely ever leaves Taris these days.” Jaemin leans back on his hands, smirking like he knows he’s shaking the foundations of Donghyuck’s worldview.

Donghyuck snaps out of his stupor to hit Jaemin on the arm. “You idiot, you just let me think you were totally self-serving this whole time!” He exclaims. “Why didn’t you say anything!”

Jaemin snickers. “You never asked!” He says, smirking.

“Yeah, nice, just steal Mark’s excuse,” Donghyuck says, rolling his eyes.

Jaemin laughs, then sobers. “Now don’t get the wrong idea. I’m still a big fan of lawlessness. I smuggle for business, too.” He grimaces. “Just… don’t put me up on a pedestal. I’ll disappoint you real fast.”

Donghyuck snorts. “Why would I put _you_ up on a pedestal when I have Mark to do that with?”

Jaemin laughs, bright and clear. “Good point,” he concedes.

“Speaking of Mark,” Donghyuck says, sobering. “I think you misunderstood him.”

Jaemin frowns. “How so?”

“I was being an asshole,” Donghyuck says. Jaemin huffs out a laugh. “But Jaemin,” Donghyuck fixes him with a stare. “Mark just wants you to hang around because he hasn’t seen you properly in _years._ He misses his brother.”

Jaemin stops up short, his laugh trailing off. He blinks, once, twice, and then clears his throat. “Oh,” he says, voice thick.

“Yeah,” Donghyuck says, chuckling. “I just thought that you should know.”

Jaemin swallows, throat clicking, and blinks furiously a few times. “Right. Yeah, of course.”

“Are you going to _cry?”_ Donghyuck asks skeptically. He leans forward and Jaemin leans away, avoiding eye contact. Donghyuck leans back. “Oh my god, you are!”

“For your information, crying is good for the soul,” Jaemin sniffs haughtily, surreptitiously wiping a tear from the corner of his eye.

They smile at one another, and Donghyuck feels himself beginning to relax. He’s glad that he’s made things right with Jaemin, and that he’s smiling genuinely again. Jaemin opens his mouth to say something when suddenly, a door bangs open on the other side of the hangar, and they both jump.

“JAEMIN!” Mark’s voice echoes across the hangar, extremely distressed. “I’M SORRY!”

Jaemin laughs, pushing himself up to stand. He crosses the wing and jumps down to the floor, just in time to catch Mark as he throws himself into his arms.

Mark’s rambling, babbling into Jaemin’s shoulder about how he’s so sorry about everything that’s happened between them and how he never meant to make Jaemin feel like he didn’t love him just the way he was. Jaemin just smiles and pats his back, making bemused eye contact with Donghyuck over Mark’s shoulder.

“Mark,” he says. “It’s okay. I know.”

“Oh.” Mark stops short, pulling back and looking at a loss for words. Jaemin just laughs wetly, drawing Mark back into his arms for another hug.

“I _guess_ I could stick around for a while longer,” Jaemin says, rolling his eyes and sighing like it’s some huge inconvenience. He’s given away by the smile on his face and the sparkle in his eyes. Mark grins, pulling out of the hug and throwing an arm around Jaemin’s shoulder.

“That sounds wonderful.”

* * *

Before heading for dinner, Donghyuck makes sure to change his clothes. There’s no need for long sleeves and fabric jackets here. On Yavin IV, the air is thick and humid, and the temperature doesn’t vary much, almost always edging on unbearably warm.

Donghyuck has missed it. When he first came to Yavin IV, he’d hated the way the clothes stuck to his skin, the way he was always a bit sweaty and out of breath. Now, he’s come to love the uncomfortable heat of home.

Jaemin doesn’t seem to feel the same.

“I’ve only been here for like, three hours,” he says, frowning as he takes another bite of his meal. “But I feel like I have a second skin made of pure sweat. And if I have to slap even one more mosquito away from my face, I swear I’m going to lose it.”

Renjun laughs. “You better get used to it,” he says. “Rainforest climate and all.”

“Yeah, there’s really no seasons here,” Jeno adds.

“Fuck,” Jaemin says. “This feels like an unwanted vacation in _hell_.”

Donghyuck pats his back, taking a sip of water. “Now, now,” he says, a smirk on his face. “I’m sure you’ve been to worse places on runs.”

“Sure, but I spend most of my time between Onderon and Taris,” Jaemin explains, pouting. “Compared to that, this feels like hell. Taharis is mostly cold.”

“You live on Onderon, Jaemin?” Renjun asks, curious.

“You could say so,” Jaemin replies, contemplating, as he munches on some bread. “Honestly, I travel back and forth so much that it feels like I live on my ship.”

“Interesting,” Renjun replies. Suddenly, a sly smile spreads across his face. Donghyuck swallows. He knows Renjun can’t be up to any good.

“Good thing that you were in Onderon at the right time, then.” Jeno adds, smiling at Jaemin.

“Good thing, yeah,” Jaemin says, glancing over at Donghyuck with a smile. Donghyuck tries to smile back, but it comes out a bit stilted. It’s almost surreal to have Jaemin talking to Renjun and Jeno. He never really thought this is how things would turn out. Then again, he didn’t expect to make friends with a smuggler in the first place, but here he is.

“Yeah, you really saved Hyuck’s ass out there,” Renjun says.

“I guess I did,” Jaemin says, laughing awkwardly, his smile just the tiniest bit tense. He must know Renjun is testing him. “It was mostly a good deal for me, anyways. And he was cute,” he adds, gesturing at Donghyuck with his fork.

Donghyuck chokes on his water. He remembers Jaemin saying that the first time they met, but it’s different to hear it now.

“Our Hyuckie is indeed cute,” Renjun replies, his smile growing wider.

Jaemin doesn’t back down. “Oh, of course he is,” he says, raising his eyebrows just a little. “He’s even cuter when he’s drunk, though.”

“Right?” Renjun replies immediately, leaning across the table enthusiastically. “He gets all clingy and—”

“Stop it, you two,” Donghyuck says with a groan.

Renjun seems like he’s going to say something else when Jaemin suddenly stands up, looking towards the door.

“I need to talk to Mark,” he says, giving them a polite smile. “I’ll be right back.”

Donghyuck gestures at him to go ahead, and Jaemin jogs over to Mark, putting an arm around his shoulders as he talks animatedly about something Donghyuck can’t hear.

He turns to look at Renjun, eyes narrowed. “What are you trying to do?”

“Nothing bad!” Renjun replies, throwing his hands on the air. “I just wanted to confirm something.”

“Renjunnie,” Jeno chastises softly. But then, he bites his lip, and asks, “And? Did you?”

“Jeno!” Donghyuck exclaims, looking towards him, betrayed.

“Sorry,” Jeno smiles shyly at him.

Donghyuck sighs, defeated. “Fine,” he mutters. He turns to Renjun. “So?”

“I confirmed all my suspicions,” Renjun says, smiling conspiratorially. Donghyuck leans forward, expectant. He can’t deny he’s curious too. He cares about Renjun, and moreover, he _trusts_ him. What he thinks about Jaemin matters to him.

“You totally like him.” Renjun smirks, and Donghyuck nearly knocks over a cup of water in shock. “And I’m inclined to believe he likes you back.”

“What? No!” Donghyuck immediately denies, utterly scandalized. “He’s annoying!” he adds. “Okay, he’s not a Sith Lord, but he’s not exactly a paradigm of goodness either. It wouldn’t work out! We’re way too different.” He _doesn’t_ like Jaemin. Was he going to be eternally grateful that he saved him? Yes. Are they sort of friends? Maybe. But does he _like_ him? No way. He definitely doesn’t. Jaemin is a smuggler, and Donghyuck is part of the Resistance. Anything between them would be doomed to fail, anyway.

“Well, everyone loves a bad boy,” Renjun says with a knowing smirk.

“Oh, shut it,” Donghyuck replies, feeling his ears burning. “He has a nice face, I’ll give him that,” he admits, trying to sound indifferent. “But the only emotion he inspires in me is _irritation_.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” Renjun says, his smile challenging.

Jeno sighs, looking between Renjun and Donghyuck as they glare at one another, only half serious. “I don’t know. It seems complicated.”

Renjun only snorts. “Well, if Donghyuck would just admit that he’s deep in the throes of denial, then maybe—”

“Denial? About what?” Jaemin asks, sliding back into his seat beside Donghyuck.

“Nothing.” Jeno replies a bit too quickly for it to be natural, and he immediately flushes, shoving a forkful of rice into his mouth.

Jaemin glances at Donghyuck, eyes curious, but Donghyuck only shrugs, staring purposely down at his meal.

“Oh, by the way,” Jaemin says, turning in his seat to face him. “Mark said I could sleep in the same room as you.”

“He said _what_?” Donghyck says, trying to stop himself from raising his voice.

Jaemin shrugs, turning around and going back to his own meal. “It was that or sleeping on my ship.”

“Why don’t you sleep on your beloved ship, then?” Donghyuck asks, annoyed. Jaemin _loves_ Mili. Surely he wouldn’t mind sleeping there a couple nights.

“Hyuckie, don’t be rude,” Jeno says. “There’s plenty of space in your room.”

“Yeah, _Hyuckie,_ ” Jaemin repeats, a shit-eating grin on his face. “Don’t be rude _.”_

“I’m not used to sleeping in the same room as other people,” Donghyuck replies. That much is true. “I haven’t had a roommate in years.”

“That didn’t stop you from sleeping in the same bed as me, though,” Jaemin counters.

“That was different,” Donghyuck replies through gritted teeth.

“How?” Jaemin challenges.

Donghyuck fumes. “Fine!” he says, throwing his hands in the air. “You can sleep in my room, but you’re going to ask Mark for an extra bed, or else you’re sleeping on the floor,” he says, threatening Jaemin with his fork.

“I’ll come by your room later, then,” Jaemin says as he stands up from the chair. He looks pleased. “Mark wants to introduce me to some people. See you later!” He smiles at them, and then goes to sit at Mark’s table, taking his tray of food with him.

Donghyuck tears his eyes away from Jaemin’s retreating figure and sees that Jeno is giving him a sympathetic look.

“So,” Renjun drawls, a knowing look in his eye. “You slept in the same bed?”

Donghyuck throws him a sour look. “Don’t even start.”

“Just wondering!”

* * *

At night, Donghyuck finds Jaemin comfortably resting on a new bed in one of the corners of his room.

He’s pretty tired after an intense day of catching up and reporting all that had happened during his mission to the higher ups. He collapses on his own bed, sighing as soon as his body sinks into the mattress.

“Rough day?” Jaemin asks, sympathetic.

Donghyuck turns around to look at him. “Yeah, you could say that.”

There's silence for a few seconds, and Donghyuck closes his eyes.

“You have a lot of friends here,” Jaemin points out.

“So do you, back in Taharis,” Donghyuck says, opening his eyes. The only lighting in the room comes from his reading light, and it’s pretty dim. There’s a window too, but it only catches the light of one of the other Yavin moons.

“You’re right,” Jaemin says. Then, he seems to hesitate. He opens his mouth but no words come out.

“What is it?” Donghyuck asks.

“Thank you,” Jaemin says, voice just above a whisper. “For saying I should talk to Mark. You were right.”

“Yeah, well,” Donghyuck says, sitting up. “I’m always right.”

Jaemin snorts softly, but his smile doesn’t falter.

Donghyuck looks at him curiously. There’s a question that’s been bothering him all evening. He might as well ask now that they’re alone.

“Why did you want to sleep here, anyway?”

“I’m just...” Jaemin trails off, like he’s considering how to answer. “I’m not used to sleeping when people I don’t know are around, you know? It makes me uneasy,” he says, looking straight at Donghyuck. He’s got this sincere, soft smile on his face, and Donghyuck's heart skips a beat. “But since we’ve been spending so much time together in the last few days, I figured it’d be okay.” He pauses, looking suddenly concerned. “Is it not?”

“No, no. It’s okay. I think I get it,” Donghyuck replies. He didn’t mean to come off if he was throwing him out. He was just curious about it, that’s all. And it’s not like Jaemin is staying here forever. It isn’t a big deal. “Mark would’ve let you stay with him if you’d asked, though,” he adds.

“I know,” Jaemin says, a pensive expression on his face as he looks out the window.

Donghyuck sighs. “I’m sorry.”

Jaemin turns to look at him, baffled. “For what?”

“You took me on your ship even when you had a lot of reasons not to,” Donghyuck explains. Maybe he should’ve started with a _thanks_ , instead of _sorry_ , but he’s always been bad at these kinds of conversations. “And now you’re stuck here.”

Jaemin laughs. “C’mon. Don’t get all emotional on me now.”

“You started it!” Donghyuck huffs.

Jaemin laughs, and they fall into comfortable silence after that. Donghyuck doesn’t even realize when he falls asleep.

* * *

Donghyuck quickly becomes busy as he gets back into the rhythm of work. He’s busy from sunrise to sunset with his duties for the Resistance, each day spent testing ships, training new pilots, or reinforcing his own combat abilities with Jeno, Renjun, Sicheng, and occasionally Mark.

Surprisingly, Jaemin sticks around for most of it, when he’s not hanging out with his brother. He makes stupid remarks about everything and anything, but he does make Donghyuck laugh.

Donghyuck finds that he doesn’t mind the company that much.

Besides the added company throughout the day, it becomes a habit for the four of them to eat their meals together. Donghyuck and Jaemin, Jeno and Renjun. Sometimes Mark joins them too, when he’s not too caught up in helping around.

One particular night, Jaemin brings up his stupid card game. To Donghyuck’s annoyance, Renjun picks up on the rules right away, and after a few rounds, is starting to get good enough to challenge Jaemin. It’s a small comfort that Jeno's still as bewildered as him.

Sure enough, before long it’s more of a competition between Jeno and Donghyuck for who can manage to not lose the worst while Jaemin and Renjun actually battle it out to win. To his annoyance, Donghyuck usually loses.

The one night that Mark plays is an absolute treat for them all though, because for once, Donghyuck comes out the winner thanks to Mark quite accidentally taking Jaemin out of the running by playing three kings together, giving him the chance to eliminate one player of his choice, and then subsequently accidentally ruining Renjun and Jeno’s games as well as his own when he plays an ace of spades by itself, forcing himself and the players on his immediate left and right to drop out of the game.

Yes, maybe it’s a win by default, but Donghyuck doesn’t even care. He savors the sweet taste of victory.

* * *

Donghyuck has been training with Renjun for at least an hour when Jaemin shows up, looking put out. He tells them that Mark has ditched him to go train in the forest alone, as per Johnny’s instructions.

“Sorry that your brotherly bonding time was interrupted,” Jeno says to him, looking painfully genuine.

Jaemin laughs, dropping the overly sad act and clapping Jeno on the back. “It’s all good, Jeno. We hung out all morning, don’t worry about it.” He looks Jeno up and down. “I know you told me yourself, but it’s still hard to believe that you used to be a Stormtrooper. Now that I know you, I feel like you’re way too nice for that.”

“He is,” Renjun says. “Hence why he got the hell out of there as soon as he could.”

Jeno laughs, taking off his protection goggles. Jaemin seems like he kind of wants to ask more about the topic, but he remains quiet as Jeno offers him his blaster. “Wanna try?” he asks.

Jaemin smiles, eyeing the gun in Jeno’s hand before taking it carefully. “Sure!”

Donghyuck looks at him out of the corner of his eye for a brief moment, and tries to focus on the static targets a couple of meters in front of him before shooting. It hits the target. Donghyuck smiles, pleased, and turns to watch Jaemin grip the handle of the blaster with practiced ease as he points and shoots. The bolt of plasma goes straight through the center of the target, leaving a smoking hole in its wake.

“Nice,” Jeno says appreciatively, and Donghyuck only snorts.

“Do you do this often?” Jaemin asks, handing the blaster back to Jeno.

“Training? Yeah,” Donghyuck replies, taking his own protection goggles off. “But this is just a small portion of what we do. There’s more to combat than just blasters.”

“Of course. Gotta stay at the top of the game,” Jaemin says. He grins, batting his eyelashes at him in a deliberate way, and Donghyuck knows he means trouble. “Have you ever tried hand-to-hand combat?”

“No, why would we do that?” Renjun asks, scowling at him. “We have blasters for a reason. Most of our fights happen in the sky anyway.”

Jaemin laughs. “You never know when you’re going to need to use your hands,” he says, crossing his arms over his chest. “Wanna try one on one, Donghyuck?”

Donghyuck eyes him suspiciously. There’s something creeping up his chest, like a mix of anticipation and curiosity. The thought that this might not be a good idea crosses his mind, but one look at Jaemin's confident posture, his cocky smile, and the thought is gone like the wind. “And what’s in it for me?” he asks.

“Just the fun of getting your ass handed to you by yours truly,” Jaemin says with a wink.

Renjun puts a hand on his shoulder. “He’s just trying to provoke you,” he warns, leaning in.

“So? What do you say?” Jaemin butts in. “What’s the big deal, anyways? Afraid you’re going to lose _?”_

Donghyuck glares at him. He knows Jaemin may have the upper hand here, but he’s never been one to dismiss a challenge. He knows he can win this. Donghyuck throws him a smile. “Oh, you’re on.”

“Alright,” Jaemin says easily. “Don’t cry when I beat you, though.”

“For the record, I think this is a bad idea,” Jeno interjects.

Donghyuck ignores him, even as Renjun seconds Jeno. He positions himself a few steps in front of Jaemin as Renjun counts to zero, resigned.

The fight starts right away, not even a moment after the countdown. It’s Jaemin who strikes first. He’s aggressive, throwing one punch after another. But so is Donghyuck, and while Jaemin uses his strength to carry his weight in a fight, Donghyuck is far more balanced than him, meaning he’s light on his feet, and can dodge most of Jaemin’s throws with ease.

Jaemin lands a hit on his leg, and at the same time, Dongyuck manages to hit him in the side. They both take a step back.

Donghyuck can feel the blood rushing to his face, his ears thrumming. He’s sweating under the oppressive heat of Yavin’s second sun, hitting its peak high in the sky, and Jaemin is too, taking a deep breath.

“Ready to give up yet?” Jaemin asks, giving him a lopsided grin.

“You wish,” he says, lips curling back into a sneer.

Jaemin huffs before launching forward again.

Donghyuck successfully evades all of Jaemin’s hits, one after another. He’s fast on his feet, and flying has trained him to have excellent reflexes. Jaemin is strong and precise, aiming for the places that would hurt the most, but Donghyuck doesn’t back down.

A few minutes later, he starts to get tired. He’d like to think he has good stamina, but Jaemin’s experience in this particular field is showing. He manages to catch Donghyuck by surprise, throwing a hit against Donghyuck’s ribs that he doesn’t anticipate in time. It hurts like hell, and Donghyuck backs down quickly after that, taking a second to recover as he watches Jaemin catching his breath.

Jaemin plays dirty, and the fact that he’s a smuggler is clear in every punch. But if he can play dirty, then so can Donghyuck.

The next time Jaemin takes a step towards him, aiming for his shoulder, Donghyuck doesn’t try to avoid him. Instead, he lets Jaemin hit him, and grabs him by the waist, using Jaemin’s own momentum against him. He lets himself fall, but he takes Jaemin down with him.

He has the advantage of knowing what’s about to happen, and when they both end up on the floor, Donghyuck is already on top of Jaemin, holding him down by the waist and shoulders.

He leans in just a few centimeters.

“Who’s crying now?” he taunts, smirking down at Jaemin.

Jaemin has sweat dripping off his forehead, his blue hair sticking to his face. His cheeks are flushed and his pupils are wide. Donghyuck’s breath catches in his throat for a second, before Jaemin pushes up against Donghyuck’s hands, which are still pinning him down. “Alright, you win,” Jaemin says, rolling his eyes playfully. “C’mon, let me go. You’re heavy, you’re crushing my hip.”

Donghyuck stands up easily, laughing. “Don’t be a sore loser,” he says, offering a hand to Jaemin.

“I’m not,” Jaemin says, taking Donghyuck’s hand with a grin on his face. “That was fun,” he adds, voice a bit tight as he stretches his back. He winces when he flexes forward too much. Donghyuck would feel guilty if it wasn’t for the soreness on his ribcage, courtesy of the boy in front of him.

“It was,” Donghyuck agrees, breath still ragged.

Jaemin fans his face, sighing. “I hate how hot it is,” he complains as they both go to join Renjun and Jeno on the sidelines.

Renjun shakes his head at them. “You’re both crazy,” he says, offering a bottle of water to Donghyuck. “But nice move, Hyuck.”

Donghyuck grins.

“Yes, yes, Donghyuck beat me in a fight. Can we focus on more important things?” Jaemin pouts and Donghyuck rolls his eyes, elbowing him softly in the ribs. This time, Jaemin doesn’t even flinch. “Seriously,” he continues, groaning as he fans his face. “I feel like I’m gonna melt. My face is on fire.”

“Oh,” Donghyuck mutters, taking a sip of water, before passing it up to Jaemin. “I think I know exactly where we should go.”

* * *

It’s been some time since he’s been to the waterfall. It’s close by, a mere fifteen minute walk from the base and into the jungle, but he’s always too busy to come, there’s always something more important to do.

“ _Oh_ ,” Jaemin murmurs as the swimming hole extends out in front of them, rocks curving up and towering over them, the spray from the waterfall shimmering into all the colors of the rainbow in the fading light. “This is perfect.”

“I know,” he says, smiling as he takes a few steps forward. “C’mon! Last one to get to the top is a Stormtrooper!”

“Why does everything have to be a competition with you?” Jaemin exclaims, but he’s already laughing, willingly following after Donghyuck.

They run to the top of the waterfall. It’s beautiful up here, trees all around them and towering up into the sky, where the three other Yavin moons are up, glowing a faint silvery pink. Donghyuck takes off his boots and casts them aside.

When Jaemin finally catches up to him, Donghyuck is already at the edge of the cliff above the water. He lifts his eyebrows at Jaemin, challenging, and then he throws himself into the water, diving into the swimming hole.

It’s a five second fall from the top, but it seems longer. He catches sight of Jaemin’s smile and wide eyes, the view of the forest below him, and the base right in the middle of it. Finally, the water envelopes him, cold and refreshing, and he lets out the breath he’d been holding, swimming swiftly to the surface.

He feels a big splash by his side, a small wave throwing him back, and he grins, waiting.

Jaemin surfaces a few seconds later, laughing bright and clear.

“This is great!” He exclaims, hair wet and eyes shining. “I can’t believe you didn’t bring me here before!”

Donghyuck thinks it’s a pity that he didn’t, because seeing Jaemin this happy is definitely worth sacrificing some of his scarce free time.

They swim around for a bit, each going at their own pace. Donghyuck splashes Jaemin playfully, but Jaemin doesn’t really retaliate, just grinning and bearing it. They dive beneath the surface, observing the plant life and the rocks, still visible in the clear water, the evening sunbeams streaking through the water in clear golden lines.

Jaemin swims to the waterfall and disappears under it. When he doesn’t come back after a few moments, Donghyuck swims after him. The waterfall cascades over him for a few seconds, and then he’s on the other side.

Jaemin is the first thing that he sees. He’s smiling at him, just a few steps ahead, waiting for him. Jaemin’s loose shirt is now sticking to his body, the water dripping from the ends of his hair. He’s close enough that Donghyuck could touch him, if he wanted.

Donghyuck swallows.

“What?” Jaemin asks, eyeing him. The sound gets muffled by the waterfall, but Donghyuck can make out what he says anyway, just from looking at his mouth.

Donghyuck looks away. “Nothing.”

“Don’t lie,” Jaemin replies. Donghyuck looks at him again, this time trying to stay away from the sight of his lips. Jaemin’s got a serious, indecipherable expression on his face, and it makes something in Donghyuck light up. “You’re not a very good liar.”

“I’m not?” Donghyuck asks, putting a hand on Jaemin’s elbow, frowning. He hates that he can’t read Jaemin right now. He hates that there’s some kind of distance between them, even when they’re so close. He hates that he knows Jaemin will inevitably leave, how the feeling of want and longing that has begun pooling behind his ribcage is nothing but complete and utter foolishness. Impossible, when they are incompatible in so many ways.

He hates the fact that he doesn’t care about any of that, because he wants to kiss Jaemin senseless anyway.

“No,” Jaemin finally replies, voice just barely above a whisper as he carefully reaches out and puts both of his hands on Donghyuck’s waist. His voice drops even quieter as he leans forward, eyes fluttering shut. “You’re not.”

There’s so many things left unspoken between them, all the words they haven’t said hovering in the air like the disconnected pieces of a puzzle, but Donghyuck can’t be bothered to try putting them together. Not when Jaemin’s so close to him, fingers digging into his waist, pulling him closer and closer.

They kiss, and it’s just a bit cold under the waterfall, droplets of water hitting Donghyuck’s neck and back. Jaemin moves his lips slowly against his, and Donghyuck thinks it’s funny that even the way Jaemin kisses is slow, a resemblance of the way he does everything else.

Donghyuck kisses him back, putting his hands gently on the back of his neck. Jaemin opens his mouth, and all thoughts leave Donghyuck’s mind. He sighs into the kiss, almost a whimper, and he instantly feels embarrassed.

Jaemin looks at him, smug, and Donghyuck raises an eyebrow, but he doesn’t get the chance say anything before Jaemin’s kissing him again. The kiss gets deeper and faster, and Donghyuck pushes his fingers through Jaemin’s wet hair in an attempt to hold him.

But he can’t just leave things like that—and he has the perfect idea to turn things around.

He moves his hands to Jaemin’s waist, and lifts him in an easy motion. Jaemin hums, surprised, but he wraps his legs around Donghyuck’s hips anyway. Donghyuck smirks, knowing he has the upper hand now.

Donghyuck feels Jaemin groan from the back of his throat as he presses their bodies together. Jaemin has his eyes closed, and Donghyuck interlaces their fingers together, placing their hands above their heads and pinning him against the wall as he kisses him hot and quick.

When their lips part, they’re breathless. Before Donghyuck even has the chance to do something else, Jaemin is freeing himself from his hold, unwrapping his legs and putting his hands on Donghyuck’s face. Jaemin leans in, and presses his lips into the hollow of Donghyuck’s throat, up the line of his neck. Donghyuck gasps, throwing his head back to give Jaemin easier access.

And while Donghyuck likes having Jaemin pinned against the wall, this feels good too, in a completely different way. Jaemin groans, biting down softly into Donghyuck’s neck, and Donghyuck can barely hold back a moan.

But then, suddenly and without warning, Jaemin pushes back, letting go of Donghyuck’s face. Donghyuck opens his eyes, gasping for air as he sees Jaemin take a step to the side, and out of Donghyuck’s reach. It’s embarrassing, how he immediately misses the warmth of his body, the feeling of Jaemin’s lips on his, and he feels himself overwhelmed by confusion.

He looks at Jaemin, sees the sorry look on his face, his flushed cheeks, and _oh_. Oh. Fuck.

“Donghyuck,” Jaemin says, coming a bit closer again so Donghyuck can hear him. “Donghyuck, I’m sorry, but I—” he pauses, his lips in a straight line. “I don’t think we should continue.”

Donghyuck opens his mouth, and promptly closes it. He wants to ask why, but he thinks he already knows the answer to that question. He doesn’t want to hear it from Jaemin. He braces himself instead.

“I’m sorry,” Jaemin repeats.

Donghyuck kind of wants to punch him.

“Stop saying you’re sorry,” Donghyuck spits out, his heart still racing in his chest, his breathing ragged.

Jaemin looks down, resigned. He looks defeated, and Donghyuck's breath catches in his throat. “But I am.”

“You’re sorry you kissed me?” Donghyuck asks, the words out of his mouth before he has a chance to think about them. It’s like he’s on autopilot. “What are you sorry about, Jaemin?”

“I’m sorry about this,” Jaemin says, and it’s infuriating that he’s so calm about this while Donghyuck just wants to lash out. “I shouldn’t have—” he hesitates, and Donghyuck frowns. “You know this isn’t going to work. _Us_. We just can’t.”

“Okay. Yeah, I get it,” Donhgyuck replies, quick, his cheeks burning from anger and frustration. “So you’re not even willing to try. You’re just giving up,” he says. It’s not even a question. It’s what he was thinking before—this is just a confirmation.

“That’s not what I meant,” Jaemin replies, hurt flashing in his eyes.

“Oh, but it is, and you know it.” Donghyuck says softly, bitterly. He should’ve known better. Of course Jaemin isn’t willing to go try with someone like him. He clicks his tongue. “Cool. Good to know I’m not worth it for you,” he says. He can feel his heartbeat ringing loud in his ears, blood rushing to his face, and he has to blink a few times so there aren’t any tears threatening to fall. He’s terribly embarrassed, too humiliated to even look Jaemin in the eye.

“I’m sorry that I made you feel that,” Jaemin says, and he’s not crying, but his voice comes out broken on the last few words. “Because I do think you’re worth it, Donghyuck. You’re worth the whole galaxy and more, and if things were different, I swear—”

“But they aren’t, Jaemin,” Donghyuck cuts him off. He’s too angry and too embarrassed for this conversation right now.

It’s over just like that, all too quickly. Maybe it really wasn’t meant to be. He swallows, hard, and pushes the tears down with all his might. “Thank you for these past few weeks, Jaemin.”

His voice almost breaks on Jaemin’s name, but he doesn’t stick around long enough to dwell on it, even if Jaemin calls after him a few times. Instead, he throws himself back into the water, swimming to the other side of the waterfall. He goes up the top again to retrieve his boots, tugging them hastily on, and leaves the clearing as quickly as possible, not daring to look back over his shoulder.

It’s only until the sight of the waterfall has vanished and Donghyuck's all alone in the lovely jungle of Yavin IV that he lets the tears fall.

* * *

Things don’t get better. Childishly, foolishly, Donghyuck had hoped that Jaemin would track him down, would try to explain. But he did not, and the empty bed in the corner of Donghyuck’s quarters spoke volumes.

From what Donghyuck could tell, Jaemin had been staying with Mark and spending every free moment of every day with him. When he wasn’t with Mark, he was alone on _The Milenaria,_ although he seemed to be accompanied every so often by Yukhei, their resident mechanic.

The dinners, the card games, the training… it all stopped. Donghyuck barely saw him, and when he did see him, it was only ever glimpses, and always at a distance.

After a couple of days they’re alerted that Jaemin will be leaving the base for Onderon, which is most likely safe for him again. Despite his best efforts to convince himself he doesn’t care, Donghyuck can’t deny the sudden pain in his heart at the news, and evidently, he can’t quite keep it out of his expression either, judging by the looks on Jeno and Renjun’s faces when he tries to insist everything's just fine.

“It’s understandable to be upset about this!” Renjun hisses to him as they make their way to the hangar to say farewell to _The Milenaria_ and her pilot. “Seriously, I really thought he liked you back. Are you _sure—”_

“Can it for now, Renjun, will you?” Donghyuck snaps, rubbing his temples. “Jaemin was quite clear.”

Renjun’s jaw clicks shut, and he looks slightly guilty. Donghyuck feels bad, but he's still too annoyed to apologize yet, so he just leaves it, the tense silence stretching out and becoming more oppressive as they join the rest of the Base’s personnel in wishing Jaemin goodbye.

It’s terribly awkward, but only for Donghyuck, really. Jaemin and Mark make promises to not go so long without seeing one another again. Yukhei and Sicheng smile and nod to him. Jeno and Renjun both give Jaemin handshakes, and even Jungwoo has emerged from whatever decoding cave he usually hides in to wish Jaemin safe travels.

It would be incredibly awkward if Donghyuck and Jaemin acted cold, especially considering that Donghyuck was technically the one to bring him to Yavin IV originally. So when Jaemin reaches him, Donghyuck sticks out a hand, and Jaemin takes it.

“Good luck, Jaemin,” Donghyuck says around the lump in his throat. “Travel safely.”

“I will,” Jaemin says, voice tinged with a sadness that Donghyuck doesn’t quite understand. In fact, he’s a little pissed. If anyone should be sad, it’s _him._ “You stay safe as well, Donghyuck, yeah? I don’t want to hear anything about you dying on some random trading planet because you declared yourself a rebel to every Stormtrooper in earshot, you hear me?” The attempt at levity falls a bit flat, but Donghyuck appreciates Jaemin’s efforts to alleviate the crushing awkwardness anyway.

“I’ll do my best,” he says stiffly, still unable to rid himself of that last bit of underlying anger. Jaemin just smiles, sad.

“Well, I’ll be on my way then.”

Donghyuck nods, throat tight. The anger and annoyance suddenly give way, leaving only sadness behind, and he finds himself overwhelmed by the irrational desire to throw his arms around Jaemin and refuse to let him go.

But that would be ridiculous, so Donghyuck just watches as Jaemin gives Mark a final goodbye hug before boarding _The Milenaria._ A moment later, Mili’s engines fire up, and a few moments after that, she’s soaring out of the hangar and the rebels are slowly dispersing, heading back to their stations after seeing their guest off.

For a moment, Mark lingers, but then he too leaves for the main base, leaving just Donghyuck, with Renjun and Jeno by his side.

“Donghyuck…” Jeno starts. Donghyuck just shakes his head.

“Don’t bother, you guys,” Donghyuck says. “Some things just aren’t meant to be, and clearly, me and Jaemin were one of those things.”

“Well damn, try to sound more bitter about it,” Renjun says sarcastically. He immediately softens. “Hyuck, you can talk to us about it. Maybe if you talk through what happened you’ll feel better.”

“Renjun’s right!” Jeno said, nodding vigorously. “You’ve been miserable ever since you two went to the waterfall together and came back alone. What happened?”

Donghyuck sighs, frowning. “Well, to start off with, it’s all Jaemin’s fault. He’s the one that started kissing me and then—”

“You guys _kissed?”_ Renjun’s eyebrows practically fly off of his forehead into his hairline. He leans closer to Donghyuck, eyes wide. “Was he a good kisser?”

Jeno hits Renjun on the arm. “Renjun! Focus! Donghyuck’s sad!” Then he tilts his head, contemplating, and turns to Donghyuck. “Okay, but _was_ he a good kisser?”

“Shut the fuck up,” Donghyuck mumbles, trying to suppress a laugh. It’s _not_ funny, he’s _mad_ at Jaemin.

“This explains everything,” Renjun says dramatically, shaking his head. “Jaemin was such an awful kisser that he made Donghyuck sad. Unacceptable.”

At that, Donghyuck can’t help but snort, and both Renjun and Jeno look so thrilled at the sound that they seem like they might have won the lottery. “Oh, don’t look so pleased with yourselves,” Donghyuck says, rolling his eyes. “Anyways, unfortunately, he was an _excellent_ kisser. At least up until the point that he just stopped for no reason.”

“But why would he stop?” Jeno asks, frowning. “Wasn’t it going well?”

 _“I_ thought it was,” Donghyuck mumbles. He looks down at his feet, unwilling to meet their eyes. “I guess he didn’t agree.”

“Ah, I see,” Renjun says sagely, the sarcasm back in his voice. “I’ve gotten it all wrong. _Donghyuck_ was such an awful kisser that he made _Jaemin_ sad.” He left enough time for Donghyuck to let out a halfhearted snort before throwing an arm around Donghyuck’s shoulder comfortingly. “That sucks, Donghyuck, but sometimes it just happens,” he says, joking tone dropped and replaced with one of sympathy. “It just sucks especially hard when it’s someone you really liked.”

“Yeah,” Jeno says, standing on Donghyuck’s other side and wrapping his own arm around Donghyuck’s waist. “It’s Jaemin’s loss. You’re great Hyuck, and you deserve better than someone who can’t see just how worth it you are.”

“I know,” Donghyuck sighs. “Plenty of stars in the galaxy, and all of that. I guess I just need some time to get over Jaemin, and then I’ll get out there and—”

Whatever Donghyuck was planning to say is cut off by sirens. Donghyuck recognizes them immediately. Sirens like that mean that the Empire is attacking. Everything else _has_ to wait. Renjun and Jeno extract their arms from Donghyuck, taking several steps back. They don’t say another word to each other, already sprinting across the hangar to their respective starfighters.

As Donghyuck reaches his own starfighter, his mixed feelings about Jaemin fall away, replaced with a mix of fear and determination. He tries to push the feelings of fear away, because he knows that in a fight, he has to stay focused. Fear will be his enemy out there.

He reaches the starfighter and pulls out his flight suit from the cockpit, already pulling it on as the other rebel pilots begin to stream back into the hangar, some with their flight suits on, others rushing to retrieve theirs from the ships.

As soon as his flight suit is on, Donghyuck hops into the cockpit, starting his starfighter’s engines and preparing for take off. His radio crackles, and he can hear Taeyong’s voice, crisp and no-nonsense, directing the pilots and troops from command central.

“Squadron One One Nine, report,” Taeyong says, voice clipped.

“Present, all members accounted for,” comes Renjun’s voice a split second later. “Spectres one through seven seated in starfighters with engines engaged. Spectre-Eight on standby.”

Good. That meant the other members of their flight team, including Jeno, were ready to fly, with a mechanic, in this case Yukhei, Spectre-Eight, on standby in case of damage or loss.

“Squadron One One Nine, you are cleared for takeoff,” Taeyong’s voice comes over the radio. “Three Empire squadrons of Twin Ion Engine Starfighters have entered the atmosphere, and we expect more to follow. Your mission is to defend the hangar and create an opportunity for us to get more teams in the air. Your orders are subject to change. Exit strategy One Two Seven. Execute!”

Donghyuck pulls back on his control lever, and he rises into the air, falling into rank behind Renjun. They exit the hangar, and immediately can see the first Empire squadron of TIE fighters descending on the base.

“Spread out!” Renjun orders. “Lay down a line of fire, hold them off!” Donghyuck takes aim, and fires on the nearest TIE fighter. The others in his squadron follow suit, and before long the battle is raging, blaster bolts firing left and right.

Quickly they’re forced to abandon strict strategies, instead focusing on taking down whatever fighters they can. After just a few minutes, it’s not just TIE fighters that they’re up against—Donghyuck catches glimpses of the Stormtroopers’ white helmets advancing through the trees, the fiery red from their blasters, and the flashes of blue and green as Mark and Johnny deflect the shots with their lightsabers, advancing to meet them in the jungle, where they have the advantage of knowing the difficult terrain.

Over the radio, Donghyuck's peripherally aware of the deaths of some of his own squadron as they’re shot down over the jungle, the sounds of their radios cutting out striking pain and fear into the center of his being. But he can’t let himself mourn for them— there’s simply too much at stake. He focuses as best as he can on remaining in the present, shooting down TIE fighter after TIE fighter, the ruined ships falling in flaming pieces to the jungle below.

Every so often, Donghyuck catches sight of Renjun or Jeno’s ships in the firefight, and the knot of anxiety buried deep in his chest loosens just slightly at seeing them alive, but he soon loses track of them again, the sky a mess of TIE destroyers, Y-wing starfighters, and blaster fire.

The longer the battle drags on, the more concerned Donghyuck becomes. They’re outnumbered three to one, and slowly, ever so slowly, they’re being pushed back towards the base. Unless something drastic turns the tide of the battle, it’s only a matter of time until they’re done for.

For a long moment, Donghyuck’s heart sinks in his chest, realizing he’s probably going to die above the jungle on Yavin IV, lightyears away from his home planet. The thought threatens to overwhelm him, but he pushes it to the back of his mind.

 _I am a rebel pilot,_ Donghyuck thinks to himself, spinning his starfighter around mid-air to fire on a TIE fighter that had been approaching him from the back. _If I die standing up for what I believe in, opposing the Empire, then that’s alright. That’s what I signed up for._

It’s in the middle of this realization that Donghyuck hears a sudden gasp over the radio that sounds like Jeno, and he nearly panics, thinking Jeno’s been shot down. But that’s not it. Suddenly, the radio is full of chatter, all of it overlapping and confused.

“Look! Something’s entering the atmosphere—” “What the hell is that—”

Donghyuck feels a wave of dread crash over him. If it’s even one more Empire ship, they’ll be overwhelmed. They’re barely holding their own as it is.

“It doesn’t look like an Empire ship—”

“Who would be crazy enough to come join a losing fight like this—”

Donghyuck barely has the time to thank whatever cosmic being out there that it’s not another Empire ship before Mark’s voice crackles over the radio, completely shocked.

“Hold on, is that _The Milenaria?”_

At those words, Donghyuck loses focus for a minute, letting a TIE fighter slip past him, only to be shot down a few moments later by Jeno. Still, it’s a slip he can’t afford to make, and Donghyuck forces himself to focus once more just as Mili comes into view, flying down beside the rebel ships with a vengeance, already firing on the Empire’s ships.

There’s several cheers over the radio, and Donghyuck feels something shift. It's the idea of backup, probably, that lifts the morale of the team. With Jaemin’s help, they manage to push the TIE fighters back a bit to regain some ground. Their forced fractured fighting style becomes a bit more unified now that _The Milenaria_ is at the front, clearing a path, so Donghyuck takes the opportunity to gain altitude, firing down on unsuspecting TIE fighters from above now that they’re too focused on Jaemin to notice him.

He picks off a line of TIE fighters, tuning out the background radio chatter as he tries his best to hover high enough to remain out of their direct line of sight. For a while, it works, but before long, five or six TIE fighters break formation and fly up to meet him, and Donghyuck's forced to retreat.

Suddenly, the voice over the radio changes, and Donghyuck’s attention is split once again when he hears Jaemin say,

“Hey! Rebel pilots! Is this thing on?” He sounds remarkably relaxed for a man who’s being fired on by an entire squadron of Empire TIE fighters, but beneath the forced calm in his voice Donghyuck can hear the slightest bit of tension. Ahead of him, he sees _The Milenaria_ dive down towards the jungle, avoiding a barrage of blaster fire. A moment later, it returns to a safe altitude and fires back, one of the bolts of plasma ripping through the wing of one of the attackers.

“Na Jaemin!” Renjun’s voice is strained, but still businesslike. “What the hell are you doing here!”

“I was just about to leave orbit when I caught some radio chatter from nearby Empire ships about a planned attack on a nearby rebel base. I figured they had to be talking about Yavin IV,” Jaemin explains. “But that’s not important right now! What’s important is that I can still hear their chatter right now, and they’ve called for reinforcements. There’s no defending this base. You have to evacuate!”

For a moment, there’s silence over the radio. Donghyuck knows what everyone's thinking. They can't leave this base. It's home, and they’re all willing to defend it to their last breath. But before he can say anything, Renjun says it all, voice hard. “We don’t abandon our bases.”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s the rebel way to die nobly at the hands of the Empire,” Jaemin replies, frustration seeping into his tone. “But if there’s one thing I hope that I can teach you all, it’s a sense of fucking self-preservation! If you all die here today, the rebels lose several squadrons of manpower. What good does that do? I’ve already told you there’s no way you can save the base. So focus on what you can save! You’ll be far more helpful to the rebels alive than you will be if you die here in a battle that’s fruitless! _Shit!”_

The Milenaria is forced into a barrel roll, and there’s sudden silence over the radio. The sounds of the battle rage all around them—the shrill shriek of blasters, the sounds of explosions as the bolts of plasma find their mark, the creaking of metal as it snaps apart and cascades down into the jungle below.

Suddenly, Donghyuck realizes that Jaemin is right. But even if he is, there’s no chance of them breaking past the encroaching Empire squadrons with their current level of firepower. To evacuate, they’d need to have an escape route, and they have none. The enemy is closing in on all sides.

 _The Milenaria_ has righted herself, and Jaemin is already speaking over the radio again. “I know it’s a long shot with the manpower you have right now. But the Empire’s not the only one with reinforcements.”

Almost as if they’d been waiting for their cue, two more ships enter the atmosphere. They’re not Empire ships, they’re something else. It hits Donghyuck with a sudden shock of clarity.

They’re smuggler ships. Jaemin called his friends from Taris to come help them.

“There aren’t too many smugglers with hyperdrive capability who are willing to help out a load of do-gooder rebels,” Jaemin says over the radio, confirming Donghyuck’s suspicions. “But lucky for all of you, a lot of people owe me favors.”

The two smuggler ships swoop in to join the battle, and the tide truly begins to turn. The rebels and smugglers converge on the enemy’s ships as a single united front, pushing the Empire’s ships back. Donghyuck manages to draw a small group of TIE fighters up higher and away from the group, allowing him to pick them off one by one.

It’s a strategy that works well for a while, especially now that a few other members of Donghyuck’s squadron have followed suit and are spread out across the battlefield, following his example. But Donghyuck fails to notice a fatal flaw in this plan until it’s too late.

He’s pursuing a fleeing TIE fighter. He grits his teeth, trying to get a weapons lock, when suddenly, Mark screams over the radio, yelling at him to eject. For a moment, Donghyuck loses focus, but just as Mark says it, he gets a lock, and he fires.

The opposing TIE fighter goes down, but Donghyuck only has a millisecond to feel the swell of smug satisfaction in his chest before his own ship shakes with the force of impact and pretty much every warning alarm in the cockpit starts to go off.

He’s been hit from behind by a second TIE fighter, who took advantage of his focus on the other fighter to get him. In a haze of panic, Donghyuck realizes that he’s already losing significant altitude, the jungle rushing up to meet him, and he just barely manages to hit the eject button, shooting him up into the air. He barely clears the explosion, the charred pieces of his ship streaming down in smoky lines towards the jungle.

Donghyuck breathes a sigh of relief, and reaches for his parachute cord. He tugs it, bracing himself for the familiar sensation of the parachute deploying and stopping his momentum suddenly midair.

It doesn’t come.

Donghyuck blinks his eyes open, and he’s still falling towards the canopy of trees.

“Fuck,” Donghyuck whispers, the air rushing past his face. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, _fuck!”_ He tugs desperately on the cord, but the parachute still refuses to deploy. He grits his teeth, screwing his eyes shut.

This is how he’s going to die. Falling through the air to land so hard on the jungle’s floor that he breaks every bone in his body. If he’s lucky, he’ll die on impact. If he’s not, then he’ll stay alive long enough to feel his bones splinter, to choke on his own blood.

God, he really hopes he dies on impact.

 _“DONGHYUCK!”_ Donghyuck blinks his eyes open in surprise. His radio is gone, so who—

He looks down, and _The Milenaria_ is hovering below him, the boarding platform open on one side. Jaemin stands there, arms outstretched, blue hair whipping in the wind from Mili’s engines.

“I’ll catch you!” Jaemin calls. His voice is barely audible over the sound of the battle and the whir of the engines, but Donghyuck sees his mouth form the words, and he trusts Jaemin. He feels his heart swell. Maybe he’s not going to die today.

He stretches his hands out as he falls, reaching out for Jaemin’s outstretched fingertips. When he’s level with _The Milenaria,_ he feels the rough skin of Jaemin’s palms against his.

Their fingers link together and Jaemin holds on tight as Donghyuck’s momentum pulls his arm downward. A jolt passes through both of their arms as Jaemin tries to stop Donghyuck’s fall, but his momentum is too much, even for Jaemin.

Time slows to a crawl. Donghyuck feels his hand slip out of Jaemin’s and he falls away into empty space once again, looking up at _The Milenaria_ , Jaemin’s face a picture of perfect devastation as he loses his grip on Donghyuck’s hand.

For one long, painful moment, Donghyuck feels as though his body is suspended in air, his life flashing before his eyes. Jaemin tried his best, but there’s nothing that can be done now. Donghyuck’s too close to the ground now to be saved. There won’t be enough time. He’s going to die.

But before he falls very far, Jaemin stumbles to his knees on the boarding platform, flinging out a hand towards Donghyuck. What happens next is impossible for Donghyuck to describe, but it feels almost like the air is stiffening beneath him.

He _stops falling._

The air tenses, and then he’s being shot back up into empty space and shoved onto the boarding platform, right into Jaemin’s arms. For a long moment, Donghyuck doesn't even hug Jaemin back, too shocked by what just happened.

“The Force,” Donghyuck realizes, stunned. “You used the Force to save me.”

“I swore I would never use it again after I left the Order,” Jaemin says, voice barely above a whisper. “But it turns out I would do almost anything for you, Donghyuck.” He tightens his hold on Donghyuck, like he can’t believe he’s here, that he’s safe.

For a long moment, Donghyuck is stunned into silence by the pain in Jaemin’s words, just managing to wrap his arms around Jaemin and hug him back for a long moment.

He leans back, and he can see red dripping down Jaemin’s cheekbone. Donghyuck reaches out, placing a gentle hand on Jaemin’s face.

“You’re hurt,” Donghyuck whispers.

Jaemin blinks, cheeks pink, and opens his mouth to respond when they’re suddenly reminded of the urgency of the battle as a TIE fighter careens down into the jungle and erupts into flames, just barely missing _The Milenaria_ on its way down.

“Fuck,” Jaemin mutters, pulling back and running a hand through his hair. “We have to go. Come on!”

Donghyuck tries not to dwell on Jaemin’s words, at least for now while there’s a battle going on. Instead he follows Jaemin inside the ship quickly, resolving to shelve the conversation for a better time. “What’s happening so far?” Donghyuck asks, strapping himself into the co-pilot’s chair. “I was a bit distracted by myself up there. What’s our next move?”

“Chenle and Jisung are still out here helping with the battle, but Yangyang’s gone down to the hangar to start the evacuation,” Jaemin says, already slamming several buttons and flicking a few switches on the main control panel before grabbing hold of the controls to bring Mili around in a full about-face, heading back towards the base. “Chenle’s already checked in over the radio with me, so I was heading back to help Yangyang with the last preparations before we punch a hole in their defense and get the hell out of here.”

“Sounds like a solid plan,” Donghyuck says as Mili descends into the hangar. “It’s good to know that it’s mostly familiar faces that you called in for help.”

“Oh, yeah,” Jaemin said, grinning. “Chenle and Jisung was a no-brainer, but I contacted Ten directly since I assumed Yangyang and his crew had probably left Taris by now. But it turns out Yangyang and his crew were actually Ten’s only crew still in Taharis, and they were willing to help me out. I got lucky.”

Donghyuck doesn’t reply in order to let Jaemin focus on landing. The hangar is bustling as the rebels scramble back and forth alongside Yangyang’s crew, loading supplies and destroying anything that they can’t bring with them as they prepare to abandon the base.

Jaemin leads them straight across the hangar to Yangyang, who turns and catches sight of them as they approach. Despite the firefight raging above them and the danger they’re all in, Yangyang looks exactly as relaxed as he had been in that bar on Taris. He smiles slyly at Jaemin, saying,

“Hey, Na! Took you long enough.”

“You’re in a good mood,” Jaemin says with a snort as they draw level with him. “How are things going down here?”

“Things are going great,” Yangyang says. “The rebels are efficient as hell, we’re just about done. Did you know Sicheng’s here? The bastard ran off with this lot and neglected to mention it!” Yangyang rolls his eyes. “Typical. And Xiaojun’s getting real chummy with one of the mechanics. Of course he’s willing to talk shop with the competition, even when we’re in the middle of a fucking battle.” Yangyang sounds slightly exasperated, but it’s laced with fondness and he doesn’t seem to feel any sort of urgency at all, so Donghyuck allows himself to relax, if only a little.

Jaemin grins widely at Yangyang. “That’s great. Is there anyone else who needs to get out of here?”

“Just the command central staff, I believe,” Yangyang says, sounding actually exasperated this time. “They refuse to leave. Some bullshit about not leaving their stations, I don’t know. Turns out the word of a bunch of smugglers that their people will be fine isn’t enough for them.”

“Well, if they won’t listen to a smuggler, leave them to me,” Donghyuck interjects, already turning towards command central. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. You guys can finish up here without me, right?”

Yangyang raises an eyebrow, scanning the slowly-emptying hangar. “Shouldn’t have any problems,” he says.

“We’ll get the last few stragglers to board Mili, and we’ll be ready to go when you get back,” Jaemin promises. “Hurry. I’ll try to get Mark to meet us here.”

Donghyuck nods and turns on his heel, heading towards command central. As soon as he leaves the hangar, the normally-bustling hallways are eerily silent, all the rebels already evacuated or helping to clear out the hangar.

A few turns later and he’s headed into command central. Taeyong stands at attention, monitoring the screens. Taeil barks orders into the radio, directing the starships that remain in the air as Doyoung types frantically on the opposite console, no doubt a report for the Resistance about what has happened here, should no one escape to tell the story. Kun, the base’s head medic, stands silently to the side.

Kun is the first to notice him, eyes widening as he steps forward to stop Donghyuck. “Donghyuck! What are you _doing?_ We thought you went down!”

Donghyuck ignores him. “Come _on,_ you guys! We have to go, and we have to go _now_ if we want to stand a chance at getting out of here.”

“We won’t abandon our posts, Donghyuck,” Taeyong says firmly. “To do so would be against all that we stand for.”

Maybe in the past Donghyuck would have agreed, but then he thinks about Jaemin’s words, so inspiring when they were out there fighting a losing battle. He remembers the fun they’ve had playing card games, getting drunk on Taharis. He remembers why he started fighting this battle in first place, and it wasn’t to die following stupid orders. It was to _live,_ to see a better day, for himself and for everyone else in the galaxy

So Donghyuck, maybe for the first time since joining the Resistance, disobeys orders.

Before anyone can say or do anything to stop him, Donghyuck stalks across the room, boldly snatching the comm from Taeil’s hand and barking over the comm system, “All squadrons! Defend the smuggler ships passage out of Yavin IV at all costs, and follow suit! This will be the last message from center command. See you on the other side.”

“That was borderline mutiny, Donghyuck!” Taeyong scolds, scandalized. Donghyuck glares at him.

“We’re rebels. _We rebel._ Now get on the fucking ship and stop being self-sacrificial for no reason! We need you. You’re no help to anyone dead!”

Reluctantly, they leave their posts, and Donghyuck leads them back to the empty hangar. Yangyang’s massive ship is already taking off, leaving just _The Milenaria_ behind, with Jaemin waiting for them on the boarding platform.

Just as they reach _The Milenaria,_ they spot Mark and Johnny at the entrance to the hangar. Their lightsabers are activated at their sides, and for a moment, it seems like they’re alone. But then Johnny ducks, and a bolt of red plasma fires just over his head, hitting an empty crate just inside the door that promptly bursts into flames, and they all quickly realize that the Empire’s squadrons of Stormtroopers are advancing on them, and without Johnny and Mark to hold them off, they’re going to overrun the base.

“Fuck,” Jaemin mutters. He grabs Donghyuck’s arm. “I’m going to start the engines. The minute they’re aboard, start to shut the door and shout. I’ll get us out of here.”

Donghyuck meets Jaemin’s eyes and sees his own determination reflected there. They _will_ survive this. He nods once, and Jaemin’s lips press together. He squeezes Donghyuck’s arm and then drops it, turning on his heel and heading towards Mili’s cockpit, gesturing for the command central staff to follow him.

Donghyuck feels the thrum of the engines beneath his feet as they start, and he bites his lip, watching as Mark and Johnny sprint into the hangar.

“Here!” He waves his arms, trying to catch their attention. “Come over here!”

Mark looks over and sees him, eyes lighting up in recognition, and they switch directions, hurrying over towards Donghyuck where he stands on _The Milenaria’s_ boarding platform.

They’re about halfway across the hangar when the first Stormtroopers appear in the doorway, firing blaster bolts their way. Donghyuck curses, taking a step back and ducking behind the doorway to avoid being hit. One of the bolts flies in through Mili’s open door, scorching the floor. Others hit her hull, and Donghyuck is forced to cling to the doorway to stop himself from being flung clear off the platform.

Donghyuck crouches, peering around the doorway, and starts counting to himself, estimating how long it will be before Johnny and Mark reach them.

“One… two… three…” The Stormtroopers are swarming into the hangar by the hundreds now, a wave of white armor and red blaster fire that sends chills down Donghyuck’s spine. “Come on,” he says, gritting his teeth as he reaches his hand up for the button that will close the boarding platform. “Just a few more seconds…”

Mark and Johnny come stumbling across the threshold and Donghyuck slams his hand down on the button, screaming down the hallway to Jaemin.

_“NOW!”_

The floor jerks beneath their feet, and Donghyuck, Mark, and Johnny topple over as _The Milenaria_ takes flight, shooting up to join Yangyang’s ship in the sky. For a long moment, they simply lay there, breathing heavily, all trying to catch their breaths. Donghyuck lets his eyes slide shut, the adrenaline falling away and exhaustion nearly overtaking him.

They still aren’t quite in the clear. Donghyuck knows that Chenle, Jisung, and the remaining rebel pilots still have to create a path past the Empire’s line of defense and out of the atmosphere. But he knows that they can do it, that they’ll get clear.

He’s proven right a few moments later when Jaemin’s voice comes over the ship’s intercom, and he says, “Mark, Johnny, Hyuck… You may want to find a seat and hold on tight, because we’re going to have to jump to hyperdive any moment now. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

Donghyuck peels himself off the floor and shows Mark and Johnny to the main room. They join Kun and Taeil around the table where Donghyuck and Jaemin played cards. It seems like that was several months ago, though really it’s been a few weeks at most.

The ship shakes a few times as Jaemin's forced to make evasive maneuvers, and they can hear the sound of his weapons system firing, but eventually, the ship jumps to lightspeed, the hyperdrive engaged, and they’re home free.

Finally, Donghyuck lets himself relax, grinning across the table at Mark. They may not have outright won, but they’ll live to fight another day, and to Donghyuck, that is more than good enough for now.

* * *

Taeyong instructs them all to regroup on a nearby planet before continuing on to another rebel base. The trip is only a few hours long and Donghyuck sleeps through most of it, exhausted, only waking up right before they reach the planet’s atmosphere. He helps direct Jaemin with the instructions from Taeyong and his crew, and _The Milenaria_ lands perfectly on the outside of a city out of sight of the planet’s capital— they need to lay low for now.

Donghyuck’s never been here before, but he’s just happy to stand on solid ground and to be reunited with some of his friends again. Renjun and Jeno bound off Chenle and Jisung’s ship and come to see him right away, and Donghyuck can’t help but hug them tightly after seeing their faces, even if they complain.

After that, Renjun immediately eyes Jaemin, who’s standing a few meters behind Donghyuck, an awkward smile on his face.

“Uh, surprise?” Jaemin says, waving his hand at them.

“I thought you weren’t a rebel pilot,” Renjun retorts, straight to the point as always. He raises an eyebrow at him, judging.

“Renjunnie,” Jeno chastises, but he doesn’t say anything else.

“I’m not,” Jaemin replies, a hand on the back of his neck. He laughs nervously before taking a step towards them. “But Donghyuck was in danger, so I came back,” he admits.

“Donghyuck? What about your brother?” Renjun asks, suspicious.

Donghyuck has half a mind to tell Renjun to cut him some slack, but one look at Jaemin’s panicked face quickly changes his mind.

“Yeah, what about Mark?” Donghyuck says, voice teasing as he crosses his arm over his chests.

“Of course I care about Mark!” Jaemin exclaims, and he’s actually _blushing_. Donghyuck has to hold back a laugh. “And you too!” he says, looking at Renjun and Jeno, before turning to Donghyuck. “C’mon, I just basically told you I risked my life for you! Give me some credit!” he says, gesticulating wildly.

At that, they all can’t help but laugh, including Jeno.

“I was joking,” Donghyuck says then, patting Jaemin’s back.

Jaemin sighs, shaking his head. Donghyuck is about to ask what they are supposed to do now, when Renjun makes a move before him.

“Well, we’ll leave you two to it,” Renjun says, throwing a meaningful look Donghyuck’s way. Jeno nods in agreement, heading back towards Chenle and Jisung’s ship with Renjun.

“Uh, yeah,” Donghyuck replies. “Thanks!”

Renjun gives him a thumbs up, and then he and Jeno are walking over to meet Chenle and Jisung, helping with unloading some of the supplies.

Donghyuck clears his throat. He can’t say he’s not nervous. He doesn't really know what Jaemin is going to say now, or how they’re supposed to go about this.

“I thought I heard my name?” A voice to their left says. It seems Mark has wandered over from where he’d been talking with Taeyong and Johnny to stand beside them, eyes inquisitive as he looks back and forth between them.

“Please leave, Mark,” Donghyuck says, flicking his hand dismissively. Mark makes an offended noise in the back of his throat, and Jaemin stifles a laugh.

“ _Rude_ ,” Mark mutters, but he turns and leaves anyway, heading off after Renjun and Jeno. Donghyuck shakes his head, turning around to face Jaemin. He can’t waste anymore time, and he can’t delay this anymore. Whatever Jaemin has to say, he’ll hear it.

“So, you were saying?” He encourages, but it comes off a bit too harsh, and he flinches slightly.

“Are you really going to make me say it?” Jaemin asks, pain and uneasiness clear on his face as he pouts, the tip of his ears red.

“Yes.” Donghyuck says, and he won't change his mind. He didn’t suffer this much just for Jaemin to have it easy now. He huffs. “I wanna hear it all. How you care so so deeply about me, how you turned around to save us, oh wait, sorry, specifically _me_ , from mortal danger, and—”

“Okay, fine, I get it,” Jaemin stops him, and Donghyuck can’t help but smile a bit at that. He looks cute like this, blushing, the sun of the planet reflecting on his tan skin. Jaemin pauses, taking a deep breath, and Donghyuck feels his stomach tense—though whether it’s from nerves or excitement, he can’t tell.

“I like you,” Jaemin says. “And I’m sorry, for everything,” he adds, a soft frown on his face, and Donghyuck wishes he could kiss away those lines from his forehead. He stays still.

“I like you, and I’m not running away any longer,” Jaemin continues, taking Donghyuck’s right hand in his. “I feel like all I could ever do is walk towards you, Donghyuck.” It’s such a simple, but meaningful thing to say, that Donghyuck feels his heart skip a beat. “I was just scared back then. You belong among the stars, Donghyuck,” Jaemin sighs, and Donghyuck’s heart aches. “You fight for a cause bigger than yourself, and I can’t take that away from you.”

“No, you can’t,” Donghyuck says softly. “But you won’t be. I think we can both have what we want, assuming we’re willing to put in the effort to make this work.” He closes his eyes for a split second before opening them again. Jaemin is looking at him, beautiful eyes fixed on Donghyuck’s. “I’m willing,” Donghyuck continues. “The question is—are you?” He understands it now, the need for this conversation, to hear each other out. All along, he just needed to _ask._

“I am,” Jaemin says without a moment’s hesitation. “How could I not be?” Donghyuck flushes under the intensity of his eyes, “I like you so much that I’m stupid enough to risk my own life for you.”

Donghyuck can’t help but chuckle, a low, raw sound. He puts his free hand on Jaemin’s cheek, and draws him closer to ask him, “can I kiss you?”

Jaemin laughs, bright and happy. “Thought you’d never ask.”

Donghyuck comes closer, and Jaemin meets him halfway.

* * *

“I hope you like the cold, Nana,” Mark says, struggling with some of the boxes inside Mili that they have to carry outside.

After a few days of recuperation, they’d continued on, following Doyoung’s instructions he’d received from the Resistance to start a new base on Hoth. They’re on Hoth now, and ready to transport the stuff they managed to save from their old base from the ships to their new Headquarters.

Donghyuck watches Jaemin pick up one of the heavy boxes with ease, and he gulps.

“Wait, what?” Jaemin asks, voice a bit strained from the effort.

“Well,” Mark explains as they walk outside the ship. “Hoth is cold as fuck.”

Mark’s right. As soon as they step outside, they’re greeted by a wasteland of snow, blinding white and very, _very_ cold.

“Fuck me,” Jaemin says, walking quickly towards the door of the base, only a few meters away from the ship. “Are you rebels incapable of choosing a planet with a normal temperature? The things I’m willing to do for you.”

“You’re gross,” Renjun complains, as Donghyuck coos, walking behind Jaemin.

“I want what they have,” Jeno says, joining them at the station.

“Please, no,” Renjun says, shaking his head.

Donghyuck eyes Jaemin, the way he’s flushing from the cold, but still sweating from the effort of carrying the box, and well— his boyfriend is hot. “Can you go away now? I want to make out with Jaemin before he has to go in a few hours,” he says, grabbing Jaemin’s arm.

“I take it back,” Jeno says immediately, obvious disgust on his features. “Let’s go, Renjun.”

“Told you so,” Renjun says, rolling his eyes.

Jaemin laughs, and kisses Donghyuck on the forehead. Donghyuck smiles too, leaning up on his tiptoes to reach his lips—and he’s happy, so unbelievably happy. Even though he doesn’t know what lies ahead for them, even though he knows Jaemin will be leaving with Chenle, Jisung, and Yangyang to go back to his smuggling, he’s happy to know Jaemin is his, that they’ll always find ways to come back to one another, to meet halfway.

Out of all the stars in the universe, Donghyuck’s glad to have found him— to have found home.

**Author's Note:**

> and it's done! hope you all enjoyed <3 please leave a comment and kudos if you did, it would mean a lot! even just a "nice" would be awesome!
> 
> rt [ this fic!](https://twitter.com/starlight_jaem/status/1321717150072131584) <3
> 
> lastly, here's a [link](https://starligth.dreamwidth.org/1620.html) if you're interested in knowing about the process of how this collab came to be! ^^


End file.
